Govt proceeds with planned Mekong hydro project
The government has informed the Mekong River Commission that it will proceed with the planned development of a new Mekong hydropower project in Pakbaeng district, Oudomxay province. The MRC Secretariat said on its website that it has received notification from the Lao government that Laos will undertake the formal process of prior consultation on the planned 912MW hydropower scheme in the northern province. The run-of-river dam will be built on the Mekong mainstream, and is designed to discharge a flow of 5,771.2 cubic metres of water per second, according to the MRC. The Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat submitted on November 4 a detailed description of the planned project to the MRC Secretariat for its review and further action to inform other member countries about the project’s scope and other requirements under the prior consultation process. Within the next month, the MRC Secretariat will review the document and verify its compliance with the rules before forwarding the case to the MRC’s Joint Committee, which comprises representatives of the four member countries at the head of department level where the consultation takes place.
