Xayaburi Dam

Xayaburi Sayaburi
Location: Sainyabuli Province (Sayaburi, Xayaburi), Laos Tributaries: Mekong Drain: Mekong
Laos
Coordinates	19 ° 15 '14 "  N , 101 ° 48' 49"  E Coordinates: 19 ° 15 '14 "  N , 101 ° 48' 49"  E
Data on the structure
Lock type:	Weir
Construction time:	2019 (planned)
Height of the barrier structure :	49 m
Crown length:	810 m
Power plant output:	1260 MW
Operator:	Ch. Karnchang Public Company
Data on the reservoir
Water surface	49 km²
Storage space	225 million m³
Catchment area	272 000  km²
Design flood :	3 980  m³ / s

The Xayaburi dam (also Sayaburi dam , Laotian : ເຂື່ອນ ໄຊ ຍະ ບູ ລີ , pronunciation: [ kʰɯan sái.ɲaː.bùː.líː ]) is a projected dam with a hydroelectric power plant on the Mekong in the province of Sainyabuli (also written Sayaburi or Xayaburi.) In northern Laos , about 10 km east of the provincial capital.

Description of the structure

The dam is to be built 350 km upstream from Vientiane and 770 km downstream from Jinghong , the last of the seven Chinese dams that have already been built (four) or will be (three) on the upper reaches. There are two other major projects on the lower Mekong.

The Xayaburi dam is to be 810 m long and 49 m high and raise the water level by 32 m. The hydropower plant is planned with a nominal output of 1,260  megawatts . The generated electrical energy is to be used to 95% in Thailand.

The resulting reservoir should have a water surface of 49 km² and extend up to 60 or 90 km upstream. The catchment area is 272,000 km². A lock and two fish passes are also planned.

The estimated construction costs are 3.5 billion dollars or 2.6 billion euros.

A symbolic groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 7, 2012.

The developer and future operator of the facility is Xayaburi Power Company Limited, a subsidiary of Ch. Karnchang, Thailand's second largest construction company. Lender is a consortium of four Thai banks. The engineering work is carried out by the Finnish company Pöyry . The German Dorsch Group is involved in the planning of the project.

criticism

The WWF, among others, fears negative effects of the project on the natural balance and on agriculture. In the Mekong Delta, up to three harvests a year are brought in on the fertile soil. The rise in sea levels has led to land being lost in the delta and to the fact that the groundwater is becoming increasingly salinized. The Xayaburi Dam helps reduce the amount of sediment being transported down the valley. If the sediments fail as a building material, the delta threatens to topple over ecologically.

At the end of 2011, the Mekong River Commission from the four participating countries Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia postponed the start of construction because they feared negative effects on fisheries and agriculture, among other things. An environmental impact study is to be carried out. The Mekong River Commission, whose decisions are not binding, has ultimately spoken out against the construction of the dam. Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister for Energy and Mining, Viraphonh Viravong ( ວິ ຣະ ພົນ ວິ ຣະ ວົງ ), confirmed that there was no need for further discussion. This attitude of the government of Laos and the disappearance of the environmental activist Sombath Somphone ( ສົມ ບັດ ສົມ ພອນ ) in December 2012 have further increased international pressure on the country.

See also

• List of the largest dams on earth
• List of the largest reservoirs on earth
• List of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world
• List of dams in the world

further reading

• Eric Baran, Michel Larinier, Guy Ziv, Gerd Marmulla: Review of the Fish and Fisheries Aspects in the Feasability Study and the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Proposed Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong Mainstream. Report prepared for the WWF Greater Mekong, March 2011.
• Richard P. Cronin: Laos' Xayaburi dam project. Transboundary game changer. (PDF; 765 kB) Global Water Forum Discussion Paper No. 1216, April 2012.
• Joakim Öjendal, Kurt Mørck Jensen: Politics and Development of the Mekong River Basin. Transboundary Dilemmas and Participatory Ambitions. In: Politics and Development in a Transboundary Watershed: The Case of the Lower Mekong Basin. Springer, Dordrecht 2012, pp. 37–61.
• Gayathri Vaidyanathan: Remaking the Mekong. (PDF; 4.8 MB) In: Nature , Volume 478, October 20, 2011, pp. 305-307.

Web links

• Project homepage
• Xayaburi Dam on InternationalRivers.org, accessed February 10, 2013
  • Timeline of Events. (PDF; 81 kB) As of July 2013
• Gerhard Schlattl: Environmental aspects make neighboring countries doubt the Mekong dam project. Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Foreign Trade Portal, April 21, 2011, accessed on February 10, 2013

Individual evidence

1. ^ Proposed Xayaburi Dam Project - Mekong River Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA). Mekong River Commission Secretariat. March 24, 2011.
2. ^ ^{A b} Further study on impact of Mekong mainstream development to be conducted, say Lower Mekong Countries. Mekong River Commission, December 8, 2011.
3. ↑ Sophat Soeung: Lao Dam Raises Alarm Among Conservationists. Voice of America - Khmer, December 20, 2010, accessed December 12, 2011
4. ↑ Till Fähnders: When the Mekong stands still. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine , October 11, 2012.
5. ↑ Laos builds controversial Mekong dam. In: Spiegel Online , November 5, 2012.
6. ↑ Dam construction despite criticism. Consequences for nature and agriculture feared. In: Nano , 3sat, November 8, 2012.
7. ↑ Yuthana Praiwan: CK remains confident in state projects. In: Bangkok Post , April 22, 2010.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Nick Reimer: The dam break. In: taz.de. February 23, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2013 . 
9. ↑ Xayaburi Dam decision postponed. Reisenews Online, April 20, 2011.
10. ↑ Where is Sombath? Collection of articles on the disappearance of Sombath Somphone on Sombath.org
11. ↑ No discussion of the controversial Xayaburi dam. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine , January 16, 2013.