The inking of a €300 million contract for water turbines, and job
advertisements marked “urgent” appear to be the latest signs that Laos is
powering forward with the Xayaburi hydroelectric dam project on the Mekong
River.
Assurances the $3.8 billion
project was on hold pending further studies into its possible environmental
impacts on downstream Cambodia have formed a strong part of Lao ministers’
parlance since news of a construction contract surfaced in April.
Talk and action in the past week,
however, suggest Laos is proceeding with building the 1,285-megawatt dam, which
environmental groups and Cambodian fishing communities fear could destroy
livelihoods by blocking fish migration and sediment flow.
Austrian-based company Andritz
has announced that CH Karnchang, the dam’s Thai builder, has placed an order
with it for electro-mechanical equipment.
“The order value is about 250-300
[million euros] and... is planned to come into force during the next six
months. Start-up is scheduled for the end of 2019,” Andritz said in a
statement.
“[Andritz] will deliver seven
Kaplan turbines, each with an output of 175 [megawatts], an additional Kaplan
turbine with an output of 68.8 [megawatts], generators and governors,
automation systems and additional equipment.”
The company added that Laos was
focusing on hydropower projects to improve the standard of living of its
population, stimulate the economy and reduce its dependence on fossil energy.
More than 85 per cent of
Xayaburi’s energy is expected to be sold to Thailand.
Today is the closing date for
applications for five inspector positions that the Xayaburi Power Company is
seeking “urgently to fill”.
Listed on Laos website 108job,
the company’s advertisement calls for males aged 25 to 30 who speak fluent Thai
to apply. Experience in a power plant would be an advantage, it says.
When the Post rang the number, a
man said he was not involved with the Xayaburi Power Company.
These developments came amid firm
comments from Lao deputy minister of Energy and Mines Viraphonh Viravong about
his country’s plans for hydroelectricity.
“There is no question of [Laos]
not developing its hydropower potential,” he said last week.
“The only question is how to do
it sustainably.”
Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia
program director for International Rivers, said Laos had no right to build the
dam as Cambodia and Vietnam had not agreed to it.
“Right now, it is impossible to
say it is going to benefit the Lao people... for past projects, there is no
evidence that the revenue has benefited the community. Andritz should be
reconsidering its involvement in this.”
The Post could not confirm
reports Cambodia had sent a delegation to Laos yesterday to again urge it to
suspend construction of the dam.
Shane Worrell
Business & Investment Opportunities
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