Power Trade

Mekong Leaders to Sign Risky Power Trade Agreement

Friday, July 1, 2005

Leaders of Mekong countries are planning to sign a key Memorandum of Understanding at the Second Greater Mekong Sub–region1 (GMS) Summit in Kunming, China on July 4–5, 2005. The MOU helps to establish an implementation framework that facilitates the development of a power grid and trading system which poses a serious threat to the economies, environment and local communities. A recent analysis shows that the multi–billion dollar scheme provides no guarantee of cost savings for consumers. A flagship initiative of the Asian Development Bank’s GMS program, the Mekong power

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Mekong Power Grid

The Manwan Dam, in Yunnan Province China, was completed in 1996 and was the Mekong River's first mainstream dam.

For millions of people in the Mekong region, its bountiful rivers are a symbol of life that provide for fish, transportation, water for agriculture, and many other critical needs. Yet to a number of powerful energy companies, backed by the region’s governments and organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), these same rivers are a tempting resource to be exploited for electricity generation.

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ADB Plan Supports a Dozen More Dams for the Mekong

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Critics say plan is destructive, 40 years out of dateA new Asian Development Bank report has recommended the construction of a regional power grid in mainland Southeast Asia fueled exclusively by hydropower. Twelve dams in Burma, China and Laos are proposed to generate power for consumers in Thailand and Vietnam. The long-awaited report, released last month by the ADB and carried out by the Norwegian hydropower consulting company Norconsult, examines different scenarios of grid development and power cooperation. The report recommends a $43 billion generation and transmission system which inclu