Laos / key documents

Laos has declared it a national priority to catalyze the country's development through the rapid construction of large dams that export high-risk hydropower to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam.

International Rivers' briefing paper describing the Nam Theun 2 project, its unsettled questions and broken promises, at the time of reservoir filling.

The table below lists existing and planned large (greater than 10 MW) hydropower projects in Laos. The table is based on the Lao Government Department of Energy Promotion and Development's “Electric Power Plants in Laos as of January 2009”, available at:
http://www.poweringprogress.org/index.php?option=com_jotloader&task=file....

This document is updated regularly by  International Rivers and TERRA with new information from news reports, official project documents and other sources. Please send comments, questions or corrections to berklee [at] internationalrivers [dot] org and fer [at] terraper [dot] org.

Statement of Shannon Lawrence, International Rivers' Lao Program Director, at a press briefing in Bangkok.

Letter from International Rivers to the Lao Water Resources and Environment Agency (WREA) and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) concerning implementation of the National Policy on the Environmental and Social Sustainability of the Hydropower Sector.

Map produced by TERRA based on Maunsell-Lahmeyer International Lao Power System Development Plan (2004), and updated by International Rivers with information from August 2007 Lao Power Development Plan.

Letter from IRN to Mr. Xaypaseuth Phomsoupha, Lao National Committee for Energy, regarding implementation of the National Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability of the Hydropower Sector. The letter also outlines concerns about the Nam Mang 3 and Houay Ho projects following IRN site visits.

Hydropower projects developed over the past decade in Laos have left a legacy of destroyed livelihoods and damaged ecosystems. The five case studies in this paper point to the great difficulties in implementing large-scale infrastructure projects in Laos. These experiences raise fundamental questions regarding the Lao government's institutional capacity and political will to ensure that infrastructure projects are adequately monitored, that compensation is fairly and fully distributed and that environmental issues are properly addressed.