Southeast Asia faces unpredictable risks from hydropower

Dam projects often have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems and affect the livelihoods of people living around rivers and lakes. This issue is becoming more urgent in Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River, where many hydropower projects are concentrated.

Hydropower dams on the Mekong River are affecting fish stocks and eroding soil fertility, potentially endangering the future of the river's ecosystem.

Betting on hydropower, Southeast Asia faces unpredictable risks. (Illustration photo: CNBC)

The benefits do not outweigh the disadvantages.

It is estimated that by 2040, there will be 11 main dams and more than one hundred tributary dams planned to be built on the Mekong River to exploit hydropower in the context of increasing electricity demand.

Laos has earned billions of dollars from hydropower investors and is eager to export electricity to neighboring countries. According to the International Hydropower Association, in the first nine months of 2017 alone, Laos earned about $975 million from electricity exports.

The electricity shortage in Southeast Asia makes hydropower an attractive, clean energy source and a valuable revenue generator.However, environmentalists say hydropower can do more harm than good.

The Mekong River is home to many fish species, which migrate upstream to spawn. However, dams and reservoirs on the river have become obstacles and have disrupted the fish life cycle.

An April 2018 report by the Mekong River Commission estimated that fishery reserves in the Mekong River region could decrease by up to 40% due to hydropower projects.

Experts warn that hydroelectric dams reduce the amount of sediment flowing downstream, reducing soil fertility. Without sediment, the banks of rivers and canals will erode, washing away houses, crops and riverside infrastructure.

Mr. Marc Goichot, water expert of the Greater Mekong Program of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), said: Sediment flow is very important to the ecosystem of a river and if the flow of sediment is changed, another river will appear.

WWF experts say that before the first dam was built in 1990, the Mekong River carried 160 million tons of sediment each year. But by 2014, that figure had dropped by more than half. Dams have submerged large areas of the delta, forcing households to resettle elsewhere.

If the annual amount of sediment to the delta decreases, erosion from the sea will increase, so the risk of land loss is real, warned Mr. Mats Eriksson, senior director of the Transboundary Water Management Department of the Stockholm International Water Institute.

Supporters argue that hydropower can be a catalyst for economic growth. Richard Taylor, chief executive of the International Hydropower Association, argues: “Hydropower projects can promote the overall sustainable development of society if they are strategically appropriate and are built and operated sustainably.”

This expert believes that properly planned hydropower projects, regardless of scale, can bring “net benefits” to the planet, surrounding communities and energy and water systems.

However, according to a 2017 study by Oxfam, the economic benefits of hydropower are often “overstated.” The current net present value of planned dams is negative $7.3 billion.

Critics blame hydropower for affecting food security and agricultural productivity due to reduced sediment flows, leading to increased poverty as well as the impacts of climate change.

This could reduce economic growth in the Mekong countries downstream of China, the Mekong River Commission report said.

Unpredictable danger

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha emphasized: Vietnam hopes that the upstream countries of the Mekong River will apply appropriate policies to exploit this river, especially the construction of hydroelectric dams, to ensure the rights of downstream countries like Vietnam.

Dams pose many unpredictable dangers if developing countries lack proper planning and contingency plans.

The clearest evidence was the collapse of a hydroelectric dam in Attapeu province (Laos) last month. Hundreds of people are missing and many villages are submerged.

Hydropower structures in Asia need to be improved and strict adherence to procedures is necessary, according to Mats Eriksson of the Stockholm International Water Institute.

Given the current dangers, many argue that governments should turn to less risky renewable energy options.

"Emerging technologies like solar, wind and biomass have huge potential and could replace some of the dams that are at risk of failure," said Mr. Eyler of the Stimson Center policy research organization.

This expert believes that Vietnam is the country that suffers the most from the impact of dams in the upper Mekong River, and recommends that Vietnam should diversify its sources of solar, wind and biomass energy.

The Mekong is the 10th longest river in the world and is considered the world's largest freshwater fishery. The Mekong River flows through 6 countries: Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and China.

The Mekong River is second only to the Amazon in biodiversity and has great economic value. This river accounts for 25% of the world's fresh water and up to 60 million people earn their living from fishing and farming along this river.