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Salween dam idea revived again with Burma
May 20, Bangkok Post
Salween dam idea revived again with Burma A decade-old proposal for Thailand and Burma to co-invest in a massive
hydroelectric development project on the Salween River Basin is being
revived again. Energy Minister Viset Choopiban said his officials would sign an agreement
on May 30 with their Burmese counterparts at the Ministry of Electric
Power to conduct a feasibility study on the multi-billion-baht venture. The project entails developing dams on part of the 2,400-kilometre river
that flows from China through Burma and into the Gulf of Martaban. Burma
plans to use electricity generated from the project for local needs and to
export the remainder to Thailand.
"Five hydropower dams can be built on this single river with a combined
capacity of 15,000 Megawatts," Mr Viset said. The most recent agreement between Thailand and Burma, in April last year,
proposed developing four dams on the Salween, with one having a capacity
of 5,600 MW and the other three between 600 and 900 MW each. It was the latest in a series of proposals dating back to 1994 when the
countries signed their first memorandum of understanding for Thailand to
purchase up to 1,500 MW of power from four dams to be built on rivers in
Burma. The new agreement calls for the Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand (Egat) and Burma's Electricity Authority to jointly study in
detail the exact locations for hydroelectric dams and the appropriate
generating capacity of each. The study will also identify sites that will be most appropriate for dam
construction and least likely to attract protests from conservationists. Proponents say that since hydroelectric dams are the cheapest method of
generating power, their construction would spur competition in the
electricity supply industry by forcing providers of electricity generated
from fuel sources to be more efficient. Mr Viset said he was not concerned about potential risks tied to investing
with Burma, saying the two countries has co-operated closely in other
energy-related ventures such as extracting natural gas from the Yadana and
Yetagun fields. The construction of the dams would take seven to eight years to complete. Thailand, in the meantime, needs to secure other sources of energy for
generating electricity to replace natural gas. One option is coal, which
benefits now from more sophisticated technology that is capable of
eradicating sulphur and reducing the impact on the environment. A ministry source said the projects were not expected to be eligible for
loans from international financial institutions, particularly the World
Bank or Asian Development Bank, given their refusal to support any
ventures involving Burma as long as it is under military rule. Besides on-and-off plans to exploit the Salween for electricity by
Thailand and Burma, the Chinese government has announced its intention to
construct at least 13 dams on the Upper Salween in Yunnan province. Energy expert Piyasvati Amranand said that although the investment needed
for the Salween project was low, the development would take time and would
be opposed by conservationists and non-governmental organisations. In the short term, he said, Thailand should look for other sources of fuel
for generating electricity and reduce its reliance on natural gas, adding
that coal remained the best alternative.
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