Energy

Beijing’s spending on hydropower projects is welcomed by many poorer Southeast Asian countries, but it comes with a huge environmental and social cost, experts say. Keep reading ...

China’s hydro ambitions are on the verge of killing Mekong River, says a report. A report published by the Lowy Institute says that biodiversity and precious resources of the Mekong are increasingly under danger because of the rush to construct dams on one of the ...

The Mekong River ecosystem has been devastated from rising water levels during the dry season, as upstream dams in China discharge water to facilitate navigation in the river. Keep reading ...

“It’s like a haircut that has gone awry in the hands of an absent-minded barber.” That’s how many locals described the environmental scars that have been left by construction of the Huilongshan Hydropower Station inside a tropical rainforest in southwestern China’s Yunnan province since October 2015. Keep ...

Amid worry about the impact hydropower dams are having on the economically and environmentally critical Mekong River, leaders of four Southeast Asian nations dependent on its waters are scheduled to convene a summit early next month to reaffirm their “political commitment” to a 1995 cooperative ...

Officials from southwest China’s Yunnan province have defended a plan to build a dam in the region as “fully legally compliant”, after an environment group took developers of the project to court last month for violating laws. Keep reading ...

Researchers backed by multi-million-dollar grants from Nasa are heading to Southeast Asia’s Mekong River region to find ways to improve dams so they are less harmful to people and the environment. Keep reading ...

Environmental watchdogs expressed hope on Wednesday that the Thai government’s announcement that it will delay a decision to purchase power from the controversial planned Pak Beng Dam could signal a shift in the country – and possibly the region – towards renewable energy. Keep reading ...

In mid February, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) issued a letter to the Rak Chiang Khong Group, a Thai Mekong community network. The letter stated that a decision on signing the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Pak Beng Dam in Laos has ...

On Thursday, International Women’s Day, a recent trip to the Mekong Basin served as a reminder that women’s voices must be central to decision-making on hydropower, and in broader energy planning for Thailand and the region. ...