Hydroelectric dam break: Warning and vigilance

It is difficult to describe all the pain and loss of the people of Laos. Because of the dam collapse accident.Pian Bus - Namnoy Bus, is too terrible.

Floodwaters cover many villages in Attapeu, Laos. Photo: ABC Laos.

According to information published in newspapers, the dam broke.Xe Pian - Xe Namnoy Hydropower Plantoccurred at about 8:00 p.m. on July 23, causing billions of m³Floodwaters swept through many houses in the southern district of Sanamsay.,Attapeu provinceNearly 7,000 people have been left homeless by floods; 26 people have died and 131 are missing.

My deepest condolences to our friendly country, Laos. But from this terrible incident, let us be once again vigilant. Because the two words “dam break” of the hydroelectric power plant are not reserved for our friendly country, Laos.

Nghe An currently has 32 hydropower projects.Of these, there are 8 major projects under the Government's approval authority with a total capacity of 1,011 MW, 24 projects under the Ministry of Industry and Trade's approval authority with a total capacity of 291.8 MW. Currently, 15 projects have been put into operation with a total capacity of 855.5 MW; 9 projects are under construction with a total capacity of 101.4 MW; the remaining projects either have investment policies but have not been implemented, or are already in the approved planning.

Ban Ve Hydropower Plant will discharge floodwaters at 9:00 a.m. on July 30, 2018. Photo: Ho Phuong.

It must be affirmed that hydropower projects have brought many benefits to the socio-economic development of the province. Every year, in addition to supplying electricity to the national grid, they have contributed hundreds of billions of VND to the provincial budget (in 2017 alone, it was about over 530 billion VND).

Besides, it creates more jobs for workers, contributes to economic restructuring, develops fisheries, develops agriculture, creates more jobs and income for local people, improves climate, provides fresh water, develops tourism...

However, the consequences of hydropower are difficult to measure.

With just three large hydropower projects including Ban Ve, Hua Na, and Khe Bo, 4,969 households had to be relocated (Ban Ve: 3,022 households, Hua Na: 1,362 households, Khe Bo: 585 households).

Because the number of households that must be resettled is large, related to many specific policies and regimes, affecting all aspects of production, life, activities, psychology, emotions, cultural history of the people...; meanwhile, the terrain for implementing resettlement projects is very difficult, high and steep hills, limited land for housing and production, lack of area and space to arrange enough area for resettlement projects.

Therefore, the arrangement and settlement of thousands of resettled households is a very complicated series of problems. Over the years, there are still many problems that cannot be completely resolved.

About 10 km below Ban Ve Hydropower Plant is Nam Non Hydropower Plant. When Ban Ve Hydropower Plant operates to discharge floodwater from its reservoir, this will be the first hydropower plant to be affected. Photo: Nhat Lan.

But those are the consequences that have been heard, seen, and touched. The hidden consequences are also extremely worrying. Especially what is evident through the dam break incident.Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Hydropower Plant.

Information on the cause of the dam failure, according to a Thai company participating in this hydroelectric projectMeanwhile, the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project has a capacity of 410 MW, a total investment of 1.02 billion USD, and is expected to provide about 1,860 GWh by the end of 2019.DXe Pian-Xe Namnoy Crashwas built to divert the flow of the Houay Makchanh, Xe-Namnoy and Xe-Pian rivers on the Bolaven Plateau.

CThis 770m long dam broke because it was not strong enough to divert the flow of three rivers after heavy rains. They announced onwebsite:“The incident just happened because of continuous storms in the area, creating a huge volume of water flowing into the project's reservoir.”

In Luong Minh commune, many households are living along the river, which can be dangerous if they do not take early steps to prevent floods. Photo: Nhat Lan.

Hydropower projects in the province can be imagined to be built in steps, on the upper reaches of rivers. Therefore, if at some point there is a prolonged heavy rain and floods, the rainfall is so high that all hydropower plants have to operate to discharge floodwaters, the consequences for the downstream areas will be immeasurable.

Warning about this issue, as Engineer Nguyen Quang Hoa, who helped hundreds of households in Chau Binh commune (Quy Chau) avoid resettlement when implementing the Ban Mong Irrigation Reservoir Project, also mentioned in the article "There needs to be general operating regulations for hydropower plants on Lam River" (Nghe An Newspaper, June 1, 2010) that: "Exploiting the potential of the flow for hydropower is a major policy, of course, we must accept the damage at an acceptable level. However, the benefits and harms need to be comprehensively assessed in the strategy of sustainable development, harmonizing interests, especially national food security and ecological environment in the basin.

In the face of prolonged global and regional climate change leading to unpredictable weather, should we temporarily stop new construction forHydropower plants that have been built and are in operation to have more time for evaluation. The obvious lessons about hydropower that happened in other countries as well as in the provinces in the country are still hot. There needs to be a general regulation for hydropower plants on the Lam River to avoid an incident at a station upstream that will lead to a chain reaction for the downstream is an issue that needs to be mentioned and considered...".

The phenomenon of land cracking and house sinking, which is deeply caused by hydroelectric power, has occurred in Tuong Duong district and has not been completely resolved yet. In the photo is a cracked and sunken land of a household in Ban La, Luong Minh commune. Photo: Nhat Lan.

Engineer Nguyen Quang Hoa's warning from 2010 is still relevant today. Dam collapseXe Pian-Xe Namnoy Hydropower Plant, indeed, needs to be seen as a lesson in itself.

Please be careful one more time!.