Energy

One night two years ago, Lam Thi Le and Nguyen Van Thuong heard loud cracks coming from their neighbours’ riverfront home. The neighbours left, and a day later half of their house collapsed into the broad Tien River as the land beneath it slid away. The ...

While its own people in Texas are in dire straits amid an electricity-related crisis, the US has turned its attention to the Mekong water resource issue, while turning a blind eye to China’s efforts to resolve the problems.  Ned Price, US State Department spokesperson, raised “concerns ...

UNESCO has requested a new assessment for a large-scale Lao Mekong River dam located near a World Heritage Site, fearing that the dam’s potential impact could put the site at risk. According to UNESCO, the town of Luang Prabang is “an outstanding example of the fusion ...

The World Bank has announced the 13-month debarment of Germany’s Ferrostall Oil & Gas (FSOG), an engineering, procurement and construction contractor for oil, gas and other industrial plants. It is in connection with an alleged fraudulent practice under the Bank-financed Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Project in Myanmar. The ...

The government of Laos issued new guidelines for managing hydropower dams aimed at minimizing water shortages and flooding, state media reported on Thursday, amid debate on how its hydropower boom has altered the vital Mekong River. The new decree, effective March 4, requires all hydropower operators ...

New guidelines issued recently by the government aim to minimise water shortages and flooding both downstream and upstream of hydropower plants. Once water levels in reservoirs rise to a critical point, dam operators are required to notify the relevant authorities, under a new decree issued by ...

Water levels in some sections of the Mekong River have only increased slightly in the last seven days though China has claimed consistent excess outflow from the Jinghong dam. The outflow at Jinghong hydrological station rose from 786 cubic meters per second on February 15 to ...

China’s water relations with Southeast Asian neighbors are under strain after Beijing held up the Mekong River’s flow at one of its large dams upstream, precipitating a sudden drop in volume for downstream countries that share the region’s longest body of water. “The water levels dropped ...

While hydropower is a vital source of renewable energy, the development of new hydropower plants can often result in adverse environmental, social and human rights consequences. Dr Thiri Shwesin Aung explores the dark side of hydropower development in Myanmar. Rivers influence biophysical processes that underpin natural ...

Water levels in the Mekong River have fallen to “worrying” levels since the start of this year, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said last week, as the region heads into a third straight year of below average rainfall. In a statement on February 12, the Mekong ...