WLE Mekong
  • About Us
    • About us
      • Our objectives
      • Our team
      • Contact us
    • Our partners
        • Cambodian Partners
        • Chinese Partners
        • International Partners
        • Lao Partners
        • Myanmar Partners
        • Thai Partners
        • Vietnamese Partners
    • Close
  • Changes
    • Where We Work
      • Irrawaddy River Basin
      • Mekong River Basin
      • Red River Basin
      • Salween River Basin
      • View all projects
    • Our Work
      • Benefit-sharing
      • Catchments & Landuse
      • Gender & Diversity
      • Research for Development
      • River Food Systems
      • River Monitoring
      • Water Governance
      • Capacity Building & Professional Development
    • Our Research
      • Greater Mekong Dams Observatory
      • State of Knowledge Series
      • Water Knowledge Series
      • Irrawaddy River Basin
      • Mekong River Basin
      • Red River Basin
      • Salween River Basin
    • Close
  • Dialogue
    • Stories
      • Irrawaddy River Basin
      • Mekong River Basin
      • Red River Basin
      • Salween River Basin
      • Mekong Citizen
    • Greater Mekong Fora
      • 2018 Greater Mekong Forum
      • 2017 Greater Mekong Forum
      • 2016 Greater Mekong Forum
      • 2015 Greater Mekong Forum
    • Close

Mekong Blog

  • Mekong River Basin

Officials power up to oversee hydro development

  • Stories
  • Greater Mekong Forums
  • Mekong Citizen

Officials power up to oversee hydro development

cpwf.mekongNovember 22, 2012Uncategorized, Vientiane Times

Vientiane Times, November 19 2012

As Laos gears up to become a global hydropower force, the country is taking seriously its responsibility to train officials working in the industry. The knowledge boost will help officials to prevent and address any negative impacts of the dams that are being built.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines Viraphon Viravong on Friday presented certificates to senior officials from Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal after they took a five day training course in Vientiane last week on hydropower risk management.

The training is part of Laos’ efforts to build modern hydropower plants in such a way that will minimise their social and environmental impacts.

The government considers hydropower to be critical in creating a secure supply of energy for Laos. It also aims to generate capital from the export of energy to neighbouring countries.

Laos could potentially build 120 hydropower plants with a combined generating capacity of 28,000MW. At present, Laos has 17 dams which generate less than a tenth of this power.

Training course organisers said the main objective of the course was to make participants aware of new international trends in risk management within hydropower development, so they would be equipped to deal with the fallout should such risk-taking result in something going wrong.

The International Centre for Hydropower (ICH) hosted the South East Asian regional training course. It was attended by employees from both public and private companies in Laos and neighbouring nations.

ICH is a non-profit organisation, set up to ensure those working in the hydropower industry are competent in their roles, and to promote the sustainable development of hydropower resources. Major power generator Electricite du Laos and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) were also involved in the course.

Participants learned the key principles of hydropower risk management, with a particular focus on developing countries. This focus will allow them to create tailor-made approaches to risk management which are appropriate to their area of work. As well as region-specific information, they also learned about the global vision for the assessment of risks in the hydropower field. This area of expertise focused on teaching them how to identify and evaluate risks, including both construction and operational risks.

They then learned how these areas of risk could affect all other parties involved in a project, such as sponsors, host government, commercial insurance companies, international financial institutions, private sector lenders and export credit agencies.

Previous
Story
Next
Story

Related Stories

  • mekong
    September 11, 2013
    Xayaboury dam ‘not harming the Mekong', Thai reporters told
  • mekong
    June 14, 2013
    Dam developer promotes better fishing practices
  • mekong
    June 20, 2018
    Science-policy collaboration: an appealing way to tackle pollution from bananas
    Water Governance
  • mekong
    February 17, 2015
    WLE Greater Mekong at the ADB EMM4 meeting
  • mekong
    June 11, 2018
    New book: Sustainable agriculture under climate change
    Research for Development
  • mekong
    August 25, 2013
    New hydropower plant in the pipeline for Xekong
  • mekong
    September 29, 2013
    Chinese bank to issue loans for hydropower development on Nam Ou
  • mekong
    March 12, 2014
    More power plants to begin commercial operation
  • mekong
    January 22, 2013
    Laos to keep Mekong cooperation spirit alive
  • mekong
    May 23, 2018
    Scientists offer Thai government help determining the health of rivers
    River Monitoring
  • mekong
    July 11, 2013
    Feasibility study begins on Nam Theun 4 dam in Laos
  • mekong
    June 16, 2013
    Don Sahong dam to boost power supply in southern Laos
  • mekong
    May 21, 2018
    Testing the waters: Hydropower engineers pioneer fish lift in China
  • mekong
    January 22, 2013
    Laos losing land due to erosion
  • mekong
    February 2, 2015
    Increased government aid propelling growth opportunities in the semiconductor market in Vietnam
  • mekong
    May 15, 2014
    Mekong nations commit to sustainability
  • mekong
    March 31, 2014
    Lao company to develop Nam Ngum 4 dam
  • mekong
    October 25, 2012
    Hydropower plants generate safe, clean energy: Deputy PM
  • mekong
    January 22, 2013
    Families adjust to new life after losing homes to Theun-Hinboun dam expansion
  • mekong
    February 5, 2015
    Greater Mekong Subregion Highway Expansion Project: National Highway Route No. 12 and No ...

The sustainable development of the Greater Mekong depends on the fair and equitable governance of its water.

ABOUT WLE

  • Our objectives
  • Our team
  • Our partners
  • Terms of use
  • Newsletters
  • Contact us

CO-SUPPORTED BY

WLE Greater Mekong is funded in part by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Water, Land & Ecosystems Mekong - footer logos
© All rights reserved - WLE CGIAR
Subscribe to our newsletter SIGN UP
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy