DEATH BY A HUNDRED DAMS
'Mekong Apocalypse' is current to early 2023 for the dire situation on the Mekong. But more horrors are on the horizon. Such as work on Luang Prabang Dam, which is planned by the same megadam construction company that built Xayaburi Dam in Laos. Among the players here is a Vietnamese corporation. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Luang Prabang Dam site is 20 km upstream from the premier UN World Heritage Site in Laos: the jewel of Luang Prabang. If the dam goes ahead, the tiny town of Luang Prabang will be devastated. But it appears the government of Laos is only interested in making money and profiting from the megadam, as Laos itself has no need for hydropower. All the power will be exported.
Below: SEDIMENT STARVATION on the MEKONG by the year 2040. Graphic by Reuters, 2023
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OMINOUS EXPLOITATION of RIVERS via UHV LINES
Over the last decade, a great gamechanger has burst onto the scene: Ultra-High Voltage (UHV) lines, which can transmit power from a megadam for 3000+ kilometres or more. Prior to the appearance of UHV lines, hydropower could only be transmitted to the region close to a megadam.
The UHV technology was developed in Europe. China was quick to jump on the UHV bandwagon, and since 2009 has built the biggest UHV network in the world within China. On the Mekong, for instance, a UHV line runs from Nuozhadu megadam to the major industrial hub of Guangzhou, over 1500 km to the east. This is operated by the China Southern Power Grid Company.
When Laos defaulted on its loans to China (many loans concerning the building of megadams), China took over the electrical grid of Laos. In 2021, Laos signed a 25-year agreement with China Southern Power Grid Company to build and manage the Lao national grid. That means the probable introduction of UHV lines in Laos, which would enable the export of hydropower from new megadams in Laos to neighbouring Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. And eventually, export of hydropower to China itself.
Laos, a nation of 7 million, does not need the hydropower of any of the megadams existing or planned for the Mekong and its tributaries. But it has taken a risky gamble to profit from exploiting the Mekong River by positioning itself as ‘the Battery of Asia.’ In effect, Laos has lost on this gamble, and China stands to take all the profits from the Lao electrical grid.
Massive Chinese water diversion canal under way on the Mekong in Cambodia—with likely severe impact on Vietnam's Mekong Delta
In August 2024, Cambodia broke ground on the highly controversial Funan Techo Canal. This is a 180-km-long Chinese-built venture linking Phnom Penh to the Cambodian coastal port of Kep. The ground-breaking ceremony was hosted by Prime Minister Hun Manet, who in 2023 inherited a family-dynasty dictatorship from his father Hun Sen, after ruling Cambodia with an iron fist for 38 years.
Make no mistake: this massive Mekong water diversion project will have severe impact on Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Cambodia currently imports raw materials from China, and exports goods across Asia via transshipment from Phnom Penh along the Mekong to ports in Vietnam. The Funan Techo Canal is designed to bypass Vietnam and keep the shipping within Cambodia. The canal will be built by Chinese state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation, which will manage the canal and collect tolls for 40 to 50 years. The canal is 51 percent financed by Cambodian companies, with the rest presumably Chinese-financed, plunging Cambodia even further into debt with China, its main source of foreign debt. The projected cost of the canal is $1.7 billion, but critics note that a canal of similar size and scope would more likely be in the range of $10 billion. China claims this highly destructive project is part of its Belt-and-Road Initiative.
The canal links the Mekong to the Bassac River, a Mekong mainstream distributary. At 100 metres wide and 5.4 metres deep, the canal should accommodate vessels of 1000 deadweight tonnage, and possibly up to 3000 deadweight tonnage, with 5000 deadweight tonnage possible in the monsoon season. That is assuming there is enough water flow.
With the Mekong beleaguered by many problems upstream, the Funan Techo Canal is a mega-disaster in the making. The major water diversion will severely impact Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where much of the nation's rice is cultivated. Aside from irrigation issues, there will be major impacts on fisheries in Vietnam. Altering and reducing the flow of the Mekong in Vietnam will likely hasten saltwater intrusion, deadly for crops.