Govt prioritises examination of dam standards, safety

The inspection of hydropower projects is at the top of the agenda for the Lao government to ensure the safety of all dams, a senior official has confirmed.
Minister of Energy and Mines, Dr Khammany Inthirath, told local media recently the government will regularly examine the standards of all hydropower projects in Laos to instill confidence in people living downstream.
“We are inspecting more than 510 dam projects. Some of them have been banned from developing their projects further after failing to meet the requisite standards,” he said.
The government is taking into account dam safety measures after the collapse of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower reservoir’s Saddle Dam D in Attapeu province’s Sanamxay district on July 23 last year.
The tragedy killed over 40 people and many more people went missing while thousands of others were rendered homeless. Several villages in the district were wiped out by the flash floods.
The government acknowledged that thousands of villagers have encountered hardship as all their belongings were swept away by the flooding, one of the worst deluges in Lao history.
Dr Khammany said the government has set up a committee for dam safety management in which foreign experts are included.
“We have six teams which have been tasked to examine the safety of 63 hydropower projects in cooperation with experts of those dams,” he said.
“All dams must have their own experts in the field of dam safety to ensure standards of those dams and the well-being of people living downstream.”
Previously, the government issued a notice for relevant departments to examine hydropower projects under construction. Later, a committee was established in cooperation with foreign experts to inspect under construction hydropower projects and those under development.
“We will take into account the safety of the dams and the well-being of the Lao people, ensuring that dam construction is safe for Lao people,” Dr Khammany said.
“If we find that investors are incapable of building the dams, we will report it to the government and not allow them to develop their hydropower projects in Laos further.”
As of May, hydropower projects in the Lao PDR included 63 operational plants with an installed capacity of 7,213 MW, 112 under construction with an installed capacity of 7,598 MW, and 340 projects being developed with an installed capacity of 19,494 MW.
Critics say the enforcement of the requisite standards for building dams, safety rules and corporate responsibility would make their construction more expensive. However, if all dams are built to the best technical standards, those dams will last longer and become a socio-economic legacy for Lao’s future generations.
The collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy project is a big lesson for Laos, and the nation must review its dam safety and standards for hydropower development to avoid further loss of life and property.

By Somsack Pongkhao
(Latest Update July 3, 2019)