Dams Built by China

Published by EarthRights International, this survey reveals a rapidly increasing number of Chinese multinational companies (MNCs) involved in hydropower, oil and natural gas, and mining projects in Burma. The report identifies that at least 45 Chinese companies have been involved in approximately 63 hydropower projects in Burma. The report raises concerns about the lack of public information about these projects as well as the potential social and environmental impacts given the current situation in Burma. Read the full report here.

A community on the Nam Tha (David J.H. Blake)

The Nam Tha 1 Hydropower Project is located in the mountainous northwest corner of Laos. Nam Tha 1 would require the resettlement of nearly 8,000 mostly indigenous people. It would also impact downstream communities along the Nam Tha River and the mainstream Mekong. 

While a contractor for the state-owned Guangxi Electric Power Industry Investigation Design and Research Institute (GXED) conducted an EIA and SIA for the project, according to a new report, the assessments were rushed and underestimated the environmental and social impacts of the dam. In particular, it failed to take into account the effects the dam on water quality, aquatic ecosystems, and the challenges that the resettled population would have to face.

The new government of Pakistan is considering another big dam project. The Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus River in northern Pakistan comes with an astounding price tag of over US$8.5 billion. The 200-square-kilometer reservoir would flood 100 kilometers of the Karakoram highway, and the villages and farms of over 35,000 people would disappear. Tens of thousands of thousand-year old rock carvings would vanish. The project, after an eight-year construction period, would provide 4500 MW of electricity for the national grid, but it would not address the far more pressing issue that half of Pakistan's population (around 80 million people) have no electricity access whatsoever. Diamer-Bhasha is a costly project that would only benefit industries and wealthy Pakistanis.

From the flooded forests of the Tonle Sap Lake to the banks of the mighty Mekong River, fishing has always been central to the peoples’ way of life in Cambodia. Yet, a threat now looms large to these rich fisheries and the communities that depend on them. In October 2006, the Cambodian government gave approval to the China Southern Power Grid Company to prepare a feasibility study for the massive 3,300 MW Sambor Dam, to be located on the Mekong River’s mainstream at Sambor town, Kratie province.

Photo: Calvin A. Jemarang

The Bakun Dam on the Balui River in Sarawak, Malaysia, has undergone several delays relating to financing since its conception in the early 1960s and subsequent approval in 1986. Now that China Exim Bank and Sinohydro have become involved, the Bakun Dam has resumed full tilt, like many other global dam projects that are being made possible by China's far-reaching financial investments.

Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia (Jialiang Gao)

"Tekeze Dam is for Ethiopia what Three Gorges is for China." So spoke Sun Yue, Director of the international department of the state-owned China Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Corporation (Sinohydro). And at 185 meters (ten meters higher than the Three Gorges Dam), the Tekeze Dam on the Nile promises to bring the kinds of serious environmental and social problems that Three Gorges planners are only now beginning to recognize.

Although Ghana has for decades had a very erratic electricity supply due to its over-reliance on hydropower from large dams, it is now building yet another large dam, and one that is drowning a good portion of a national park. China's low-interest loans for Bui Dam got the project off the ground despite earlier vows by the energy ministry in Ghana to move away from hydro and diversify energy supply. Situated on the Black Volta River, the dam has been criticized by wildlife biologists, who say that Ghana's rare black hippopotamus populations will be threatened by the dam project. With construction in full swing, new problems have arisen, with poor working conditions at the dam site, a lack of information among the affected population, and inadequate attention to the impacts of climate change on the project.

The River Benue runs through the Mambilla Plateau

The 2,600 MW Mambilla Plateau Hydropower Project has been called Nigeria's Three Gorges Project. If built, it would have the largest capacity of any dam in Africa, and it would be one of the most costly (US$1billion). Those financing and constructing the dam include the China Exim Bank, its main funder, China Geo-engineering Corporation, and China Gezhouba Group Corporation.

Deforestation in Ivindo National Park

The Belinga Dam is one of two proposed dams that would generate power for the Belinga Iron Ore Project, which is located 500 kilometers east of Libreville, Gabon's coastal capital. The mine project is expected to produce some 30 million tons of iron ore annually. It is the country's largest investment and includes the Belinga iron ore facility, two hydropower projects to power the facility, 560 kilometers of railroad track from Belinga to Santa Clara, and a deep-water port in Santa Clara that will allow the ore to be shipped to China.