China asked to supply data about hydro-power dam on Mekong River

Le Duc Trung, Chair of the Vietnam Mekong River National Committee, has confirmed that Vietnam was invited to visit China’s Jinghong Dam.

The Mekong River.

Trung said that Vietnam will join this trip, but they have not yet received a detailed plan from China.

According to Trung, during this trip, Vietnam will ask China to:

1/ provide Vietnam and other countries located downstream along the Mekong River with information on the technical parameters and operating mechanism of the Xiaowan Dam – one of the four biggest dams upstream on the Mekong River.

2/ provide and have exchanges with Vietnam about hydrometeorological data related to the Xiaowan Dam and other Chinese dams on the Mekong River

3/ strengthen cooperation and exchange of information on Mekong River dams with all affected countries.

According to the Vietnam Mekong River National Committee and the Vietnam Big Dam Association, China has built and operated four big dams upstream on the Mekong River (Manwan, Xiaowan, Daichaoshan and Jinghong). There is no detailed report on the impact of these dams on countries located downstream from the dams.

Dams on Mekong River

In the 1980s, China began drawing up plans to build cascade of dams on the Mekong River in its territory. China has put four of these dams into use. The construction of dams in China seriously harms the ecological environments of countries in the lower section like Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

The Yunnan hydro-power information network named eight major hydro-power works which will be built on the Lancang River (Mekong River), the section running through Yunnan province. Among them, a dam named Guongguoqiao with the annual capacity of 4.04 million MW is 105m high. Geological exploration was conducted last November. China plans to store water as of June 2011.

Next to the Guongguoqiao dam is Xiaowan (19 million MW/year), which is 292m in height and will be put into operation in October 2009.

Another dam is Manwan (6.2 million MW/year), which started operating in 1993. This dam is 132m in height, and its reservoir can hold 920 million cu.m of river water.

Next to it is Daichaoshan dam (5.9 million MW/year), around 600km from Kunming city, 111m in height. It can hold 940 million cu.m of water. The dam was put into use in late 2001.

After Daichaoshan is 108m-high Jinhong dam (7.85 million MW/year). Construction was kicked off in mid 2003 and put into full operation in 2009.

Three other dams will be built from now to 2011: Nuozhado (located between Daichaoshan and Jinhong), Ganlanba and Manton.

Laos, Cambodia and Thailand also building dams

Laos, in which the Mekong River runs from the north to the south, has 23 hydro-power projects. Nine of them are located in northern Laos, including Pak Beng, Luang Prabang, Xayaboury, Pak Lay, Sanakham and Pak Chom, and Lat Sua, Donsahong and Ban Koum in the southern region. Ban Koum is the largest, with a capacity of 2,000 MW/year.

In Thailand, besides Sekamen 1 and 3 dams, the government announced it was resuming the construction of some dams on the Mekong River, worth around $11 billion, which can yield around 4,000 MW of power. According to the Bangkok Post, these dams will help provide water for agriculture in Thailand.

In the lower section of the Mekong River, Cambodia also has two hydro-power projects named Sambor and Stung Treng totalling around 3,600 MW.

PV

Tags: Hydro Power, Mekong River, Million Mw, Mw Year, On Mekong River, On The Mekong, On The Mekong River, The Mekong, The Mekong River, Physics games

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