Xayaburi Dam

The Xayaburi Dam ( also Sayaburi Dam, Laotian: ເຂື່ອນ ໄຊ ຍະ ບູ ລີ, pronunciation: [. . K ʰ ɯan sái.ɲa ː bù ː lí ː ] ) is a projected dam with a hydroelectric plant on the Mekong River in the province of Sainyabuli (also Sayaburi or Xayaburi written ) in northern Laos, about 10 km east of the provincial capital.

Building Description

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

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

The resulting reservoir is a water surface of 49 km ² and extend up to 60 or 90 km upstream. The catchment area is 272,000 km ² in size. A ship lock and two fish passes are also planned.

The estimated construction costs amount to $ 3.5 billion and 2.6 billion euros.

On 7 November 2012, a symbolic first sod was turned.

Developers and future operator of the system is the 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 works are carried out by the Finnish company Pöyry. The German Dorsch Group is involved in the planning of the project.

Criticism

Among other things, the WWF fears negative effects of the project on the ecosystem and agriculture. In the Mekong Delta up to three harvests a year are introduced on the fertile soil. The rise of the sea level there has led to the delta country is lost and that the groundwater salt form more and more. The Xayaburi Dam contributes to the fact that less sediment is transported down the valley. If the sediments fail as a building material, the Delta threatens ecological tipping.

End of 2011, the Mekong River Commission postponed from the four participating countries, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia to start construction first, because it is feared among other negative effects on fisheries and agriculture. An environmental impact study to be carried out. The Mekong River Commission, whose decisions are not binding, has finally spoken out against the construction of the dam. Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines, Viraphonh Viravong affirmed ( ວິ ຣະ ພົນ ວິ ຣະ ວົງ ), there was no further discussion is needed more. This attitude of the government of Laos and the disappearance of environmental activists Sombath Somphone ( ສົມ ບັດ ສົມ ພອນ ) in December 2012, the international pressure on the country further strengthened.

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