Many hydropower projects in the Central Highlands will be halted.

155 hydropower projects and 72 potential hydropower sites with a total capacity of 800 MW in the Central Highlands region have been removed from the planning. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recommended to the Prime Minister that the construction of a series of hydropower projects in the Central Highlands be temporarily suspended after 2015.

This information was provided by Mr. Do Duc Quan, Director of the Hydropower Department, General Department of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.Currently, the Central Highlands region has 118 operational hydropower projects with a total generating capacity of approximately 5,800 MW, and 75 other projects under construction.

According to many experts, the planning and investment in hydropower development in the Central Highlands and the mountainous districts bordering the Central Highlands still cause many environmental concerns; reforestation to compensate for forest loss due to hydropower construction is very slow; and the quality management of small and medium-sized hydropower projects is lax, leading to many serious incidents.

Previously, at the end of 2012, the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands, in coordination with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, implemented a review and reassessment of the development plan for hydropower projects, focusing on land and resource utilization, environmental protection, and ensuring the living space of ethnic minorities in the project areas of the Central Highlands.

Accordingly, Dak Lak province has terminated the investment plan for 7 small hydropower projects. Recently, the Lam Dong provincial government also removed nearly 30 inefficient and slow-developing small hydropower projects from its planning.

According to KTSG - PH