260 small hydropower projects likely to go
260 small hydropower projects likely to go
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed the Government eliminate 260 small-scale hydropower projects with a combined capacity of nearly 440MW from the national power development plan.
These projects have attracted no investors or are of low investment efficiency, said Do Duc Quan, head of the hydroelectricity division of the General Department of Energy under the trade ministry.
Apart from the 260 hydropower projects that have a capacity of less than 3MW each, 117 other small-scale projects with a total capacity of over 600MW have previously been removed, Quan told the Daily.
The ministry has also asked local governments to review the hydropower projects in their provinces for adjustment or cancellation, he added.
Some 990 hydropower projects of small and medium scale nationwide with a total capacity of around 7,500MW have been put under the national power development plan. Recently, hundreds of small and medium projects have been scrapped because of long delays, inefficiency and adverse impacts on the environment.
According to the trade ministry, about 340 hydropower projects are operational or under development with little impact on the environment and proper afforestation.
To ensure efficiency of hydropower projects, the trade ministry has proposed the Prime Minister request local governments to review and suspend 102 small-scale projects with a combined capacity of over 660MW until 2015.
vietnamnet
