11

Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

3rd Mekong Forum on Water, Food & Energy. Presentation from Session 17: Governance, institutions and decision-making about dams.

Citation preview

Page 1: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr
Page 2: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

• The UN classes the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) as a ‘less developed country’, something its government is keen to change. It has set its sights on transitioning into a middle-income country by 2020. A key component of this strategy is a concerted policy of ‘industrialization and modernization’, including the development of its significant hydropower potential.

• In its 2011-2015 Five-year Socio-economic Development Plan, GoL plans to develop 10 large-scale dams with a combined capacity of 5,015 MW, at a cost of US$11.25 billion. These plans perceive hydropower to be a solution to poverty and development.

Page 3: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

- Electricity Law in 1997, amended 2008 and 2012;

- Environmental Protection Law 1999 and amended 2013;

- Environmental Impact Assessment Decree 2000 and amended 2010;

- Resettlement and Compensation People Affected by Development project 2005.

- Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong

River Basin 1995 (1995 agreement)

Page 4: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

-District governors can make decisions on dams of 100 KW and below; -Provincial governors can authorize the construction of dams of between 101 KW and 15 MW; -Government can authorize the construction of dams of between 15 MW and 100 MW; -Standing Committee of the National Assembly will, on the government’s recommendation, authorize the construction of dams with an installed capacity of higher than 100 MW and/or a reservoir area of 10,000 ha or larger, and/or that will cause large-scale social and environmental impacts

Page 5: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

• Nam Ngum 1 dam built in 1968, former Lao government, no participation of Local people, and resettled 3200 people in the war time.

• Nam Mang 3 dam built in 2005, local people participated, resettled 168 households, small area of reservoir, linking with irrigation system.

• Nam Nhone dam built in 2010, small scale dam, no resettled people, no reservoir area.

• Nam Ngum 2 dam built in 2009, resettled 6100 people to one location, not enough and poor agriculture land, one purpose dam.

• Xayaburi dam, on going construction, 1260 MW, resettled 2 villages.

Page 6: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

• The compensation and resettlement correlates highly with the livelihood of affected people from hydropower development project, especially good agriculture land compensation.

• Effective resettlement is complex, it involves considerations of culture, livelihood, food security, and economic and social development.

Page 7: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

• The dam that linking with irrigation system is prefer by downstream people,

• Hydropower often involves significant social and cultural impacts – managing these in terms of resettlement is difficult. Smaller dams do not have as many impacts.

Page 8: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

• Hydropower also offers significant potential benefits. For local people, dams can help facilitate infrastructure development, basic education opportunities for children, health care services, electricity and transportation facilities.

Page 9: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

• GoL is working hard to implement the laws and regulations of Lao PDR and international agreements.

• The GoL is also attentive to constructive comments from NGOs and experts.

Page 10: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

- Legislations be amended to be more decentralization.

-Resettlement planning and implementation be enhanced.

-Hydropower dams should be linked with irrigation systems or promoted to be multi-purpose.

-More consideration should be paid to stakeholder’s comments.

-Developers should be encouraged to use environmental friendly technologies in dam design and construction.

Page 11: Decision making on hydropower development in lao pdr

Thank you very much for your attention!