Laos gets eu backing for project

The European Union has voiced strong support for the Lao government’s policy of building sustainable hydropower plants to generate revenue in a move to reduce poverty. 

“We support the policy to develop hydropower in general. It’s a great idea,” charge d'affaires of the European Union Delegation to Laos, Michel Goffin, told the media on Friday while visiting the Xayaburi hydropower project. 

Laos has invited officials from the Mekong River Commission (MRC) member countries and development partners to visit the first dam to be built in the Lower Mekong Basin. It is designed as an environmentally friendly and transparent dam, where all the water that flows into it flows out of it unchanged. 

Goffin said one of the main reasons for EU’s support of the policy to build sustainable dams is that hydropower development is environmentally friendly. 

The EU last week signed an agreement with the MRC to provide 5 million euros (Bt198 million) to help the intergovernmental organisation, comprised of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, to tackle climate change in the region. 

Goffin also said Laos had to go down the road of hydropower development because of the country’s huge potential to build dams to generate revenue to reduce poverty, thanks to its many rivers and mountainous terrain. 

“If you're a flat country, it would be difficult to use hydropower,” he said. 

In order to ensure sustainable development of hydropower, Laos needs to employ advanced technology to address any negative environmental and social impacts. 

Australian Ambassador to Laos Lynda Worthaisong said the Australian government also supported the policy to develop sustainable hydropower plants in the national effort to reduce poverty. “Hydropower is a very important sector to Laos and that's why the government and its development partners, including Australia, do what they can to contribute to sustainable hydropower development,” she said. 

Over the last four or five years, Australia has provided about US$15 million (Bt445.95 million) to regional water resources generally, some of which has gone towards hydropower and towards supporting good technical research to ensure that hydropower is sustainable, she added. 

German Ambassador to Laos Robert von Rimscha said his country also backed the plan to build sustainable hydropower. This comes at a time when some European countries like Germany are considering whether to stop using nuclear power and look for sources of renewable energy. 

“We are very active in Laos. For example we have people who support the Ministry of Energy and Mines to teach them how to do sustainable use of natural resources. The goal is to find a good balance between using and preserving natural resources,” he said. 

What the development partners want, he added, is for hydropower projects in Laos to be carried out according to the standards of sustainability, which means Laos must try to minimise environmental problems. 

“You take care of the social aspects, and you come with schemes like at Nam Ngum 2, which is a very positive example. You allocate the money that comes from hydropower to reinvest it into the affected communities,” he said.