Hydropower projects cancelled
Hydropower projects cancelled
Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces and neighbouring localities have terminated 167 small hydropower plant projects with a total capacity of 617.36 MW, according to the Tay Nguyen Region Steering Committee.
Of the 167 hydropower projects, 117 with a total capacity of 337.16 MW are from the Central Highlands and the remaining 50 with a total capacity of 280.2 MW are in neighbouring localities.
Lam Dong Province has cancelled the largest number of hydropower projects (more than 40), followed by Kon Tum Province (34 projects).
Planning and investment in hydropower projects in the Central Highlands region and neigbouring areas have raised serious social and environmental concerns, the Steering Committee said.
The Central Highlands region has converted 80,000ha of land, including farming land, for the construction of hydropower plants.
Nearly 26,000 families have been affected by the construction and the mandated planting of forests to replace that have been destroyed for building the hydropower plants has been very slow, the committee said.
It noted that hydropower plant investors in the region have planted trees just 757ha of forests compared to the 22,770ha that they have are supposed to replant.
It also said the management of many small and medium- hydropower plants has been lax. Many plants have been slow in resolving the damage caused to the environment.
Furthermore, many projects in the Central Highlands region and neighbouring areas have not provided resettlement for affected families according to schedule.
Hundreds of displaced families have not been provided with land for production and several roads and other infrastructure facilities have still not been built in resettlement areas.
There are currently 118 hydropower plants with a total capacity of 5,798 MW that are operational and 75 hydropower plants that are under construction in the Central Highlands region and neighbouring areas, according to the committee.
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