Norwegian environmental group urges Statkraft to stop hydro expansion in Laos

By Other News Sources on November 27, 2007 • ( Leave a comment )

November 27, 2007
A major expansion of a Nordic-built hydropower dam in communist Laos will cause serious flooding, ruin fisheries, and displace thousands of people living downstream, a Norwegian environmental group said this week, Reuters reported.

The Theun-Hinboun Power Company, owned jointly by Norwegian state power utility Statkraft, a Thai power firm and the Lao government, has failed to pay compensation to people living downstream of the Theun-Hinboun dam, according to a new report by FIVAS.

The company, which built the 210-MW Theun-Hinboun dam a decade ago, should shelve the plan “until it has proven that it is capable of restoring the livelihoods of communities affected by the existing project,” FIVAS director Andrew Preston said in a statement.

Statkraft, which owns 20 percent of the Theun-Hinboun Power Company, said $45 million had been set aside in the project to address the problems mentioned in the report such as by building houses, schools, infrastructure and health stations.
A Statkraft spokesperson told Reuters the expansion, which will double power production from the dam, is “a sustainable and a right project in a region experiencing strong growth and strong demand for energy.”
The $260 million Theun-Hinboun dam was supported by the taxpayer-financed Asian Development Bank and Nordic Development Fund.