Hydropower dams

Conservationists remain wary of the government’s recent pledge to sideline construction of the controversial Chhay Areng hydropower dam after finding the project on the Mines and Energy Ministry’s new to-do list.After a February 17 Council of Ministers meeting, the government announced that plans to build ...

Villagers from Stung Treng whose homes stand to be flooded by the Lower Sesan II dam met with representatives of the Ministry of Mines and Energy at an NGO Forum-sponsored meeting in Phnom Penh yesterday, in hopes of establishing a dialogue towards a long-awaited compromise. ...

Several families affected by the construction of the Lower Sesan II dam yesterday renewed their calls for the government to demarcate boundaries so they can stay on their “ancestral land,” while others who chose to relocate painted a grim picture of squalid conditions in their ...

High-ranking Laos officials said on Wednesday that the proposed Pak Beng hydropower dam will not have a major impact on downstream communities, claiming that they would take time to study its potential impacts. ...

Members of Mekong River Commission and civil society groups will be heading to Luang Prabang in Laos to attend the regional stakeholder meeting on Wednesday to discuss Laos’ proposal to build a third dam on the Mekong mainstream, the Pak Beng. ...

Cambodian environmental groups on Friday asked the government to reject Laos’ 912-megawatt Pak Beng hydropower project, alarmed by the potential impacts on fisheries and sediment flow in the Mekong. ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday gave the green light for construction of a transmission line from Koh Kong province’s Stung Tatai hydropower dam to Phnom Penh, raising concerns from conservationists who fear the impact of cutting through largely untouched forest areas in the Southern ...

Environmental organizations and civil society groups have expressed concern at plans to build another dam along the Mekong River in Laos and asked the Lao government to suspend the project due to the effects it will have on communities, water flow and fishery resources in ...

Malaysian-owned power infrastructure provider Pestech (Cambodia) Ltd has upgraded and expanded its agreement with Cambodia’s Alex Corporation to develop a transmission line and power substation ...

t the forthcoming regional consultation forum on Laos’ Pak Beng hydropower dam in Luang Prabang, Cambodian environmental groups will urge relevant stakeholders, including the Cambodian government, to reject the 912-megawatt project, alarmed by the potential impacts on fisheries and sediment flow in the Mekong. ...

Representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam gathered in Vientiane on Thursday to launch a six-month consultation process on what would be the third mainstream hydropower dam in Laos’s Lower Mekong River.   ...

Construction of a $100 million dam project and the largest reservoir in Battambang province is 98 percent complete and scheduled to be finished before Khmer New Year in April. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen joined his Laotian counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith for a visit to the site of the controversial Don Sahong Dam just across the border on Tuesday, remarking that the trip was a reminder of Laos’ commitment to improving the livelihoods of Cambodians. ...

Residents of Stung Treng province’s Preah Romkil commune are reluctant to express their concerns over Laos’s Don Sahong hydropower dam since it was endorsed last month by Prime Minister Hun Sen, despite the impacts of the dam already being keenly felt, activists and researchers said ...

Cambodia will support the Don Sahong hydroelectric dam planned to be built in south Laos less than two kilometers from the Cambodian border, while civil society groups continue to appeal to regional authorities to halt construction on environmental grounds. ...

Just weeks after Laos announced its plans to begin constructing a third mainstream dam in the Lower Mekong River region, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart to signal that the controversial Don Sahong dam will no longer receive opposition ...

News that Laos will move ahead with the proposed 912-megawatt Pak Beng dam, which would be the third mainstream dam in Laos’ Lower Mekong River, has sparked criticism from environmental groups who say downstream countries should decide the fate of potentially harmful development projects. ...

Ten trucks fully loaded with timber have been spotted entering a heavily guarded sawmill near the Lower Sesan II dam on an hourly basis, claimed a report by the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF), which was released yesterday. According to the report, photos taken from ...

Civil society groups are getting closer to unveiling a new set of guidelines that will change how the impact of big development projects is assessed across the Mekong region, NGOs said yesterday, following the end of a two-month public consultation period. ...

About 20 environmental activists called on the government to stop all new dam projects on the Mekong River to protect fish stocks and communities slated to be affected by construction. The appeal was made by the group as they gathered in front of the parliament building ...

Rights groups say families being forced off their land by development projects recently revealed to have World Bank Group backing could probably file successful complaints against the institution, effectively forcing it to help the families save their homes or at least win better compensation. ...

The Lower Sesan II dam is expected to generate electricity as planned by 2017, filling a power void in the country as national grid construction is under way, according to the deputy provincial governor of Stung Treng. The dam, located in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district, ...

Youth groups and environmental activists have requested the government release the latest documents concerning the proposed Sambo hydroelectric dam in Kratie province, amid lingering concerns of the possible environmental damage the dam may cause. The dam, if constructed, will be the largest in the country and ...

Cambodia needs to focus on solidifying its national grid and shoring up its energy efficiency and transmission lines before expanding into more costly renewable technology, a visiting executive of German engineering giant Siemens said yesterday. ...