Archive for the 'hydropower' Category

Malaysian Indigenous Communities Demand Referendum on Mega-Dams

Published on 02/21/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, dams, deforestation, displacement of people, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, rivers and water rights. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.networkblogs.com

“The 110 meter (360 foot) high dam in Batang Ai National Park in Sarawak, financed by the Asian Development Bank, began operating in 1985. It caused the displacement of some 3,000 people from 26 longhouses. These people have been relocated to cultivate cocoa and rubber but the program has not been successful, says Amarhit Kaur, author of “A History of Forestry in Sarawak.”

The Bengoh dam on Sarawak’s Kiri River is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. Some 250 families involving 1,500 people from four villages are rejecting the government’s resettlement plans to give each family a free house and three acres near the dam. Instead, they preferred to resettle themselves on higher ground upstream of the dam on their traditional territory.

The 63 meter (206 foot) high Bengoh dam is expected to submerge about 8.72 square kilometers (3.3 square miles) of land. Wildlife habitat will be destroyed, affecting two species of hornbill and 50 other species of birds, seven species of bats, 14 species of mammals and 52 species of fish.”

Read more: Earth First!

 

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Uganda Hydropower Plant Plan Hits Funding, Technical Snags

Published on 02/15/2012 in dams, greenwashing, hydropower, lakes, policy, rivers and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: www.culturalsurvival.org

“Plans by Uganda to start building the planned 700 MW Karuma hydropower project this year have been thrown into jeopardy, following disagreements with would-be financiers over the design and capacity of the plant.

Days after the East African nation abolished subsidies in the energy sector, prompting a huge rise in the cost of electricity, the potenial financiers, including the Germany Development Bank, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, stated that it was not realistic that the water flow at Karuma would sustain the generation of 700 MW.

They argued that it did not make economic sense for Uganda to invest heavily in the project when it was clear the plant would only achieve full capacity during specific periods. The project has a $1.3-billion price tag.”

Read more: Engineering News

 

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Sudan Dam Protest At President’s Doorstep

Published on 02/03/2012 in dams, displacement of people, greenwashing, hydropower and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.news.carbon-future.co.uk

“We call for the rights of people affected by the dam,” their signs said.

“The peaceful protesters dispersed at the request of security officers.

It is the latest gathering in Khartoum by supporters of residents
displaced by the Merowe dam. City police forcibly broke up two
sympathetic demonstrations in December.

On November 20, about 1,000 people affected by the hydroelectric project
began a sit-in at Al-Damer, a town around 300 kilometres (180 miles)
north of Khartoum, over the government’s alleged failure to compensate
them with new homes as promised.

The sit-in continues.

Completed in 2009 at a cost of more than $2 billion (1.5 billion euros),
the Chinese-built development, northwest of Al-Damer, doubled Sudan’s
power generation capacity.

But it also forced 15,000 families from their homes three years ago to
make way for the dam and the huge reservoir that formed behind it.”

Read more: Dam and Alternatives

 

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The Real Cost Of Brazil’s Dam

Published on 02/02/2012 in dams, deforestation, displacement of people, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, privatization, riparian zone, rivers, species extinction and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.survivalinternational.org

“Until a few months ago, the future of the Belo Monte dam seemed in doubt. The project faced a wave of legal battles and opposition from indigenous groups and environmental organisations around the world.

About 400 square kilometres of the Amazon forest will be flooded to make way for the reservoirs.

The dam is being built in Brazil’s northern Para state, home to large parts of the Amazon Rainforest.

Some 25,000 indigenous people live along the banks of the Xingu River.

One indigenous group – the Paquicamba – live downstream from the main dam. If the dam is built, the normal flow of the river would shrink significantly. The Paquicamba say their fish stocks would be severely depleted.”

Read more: Aljazeera

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No More Catfish in the Madeira?

Published on 01/27/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, dams, greenwashing, hydropower, peak water, policy, privatization, rivers, species extinction and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“When the environmental license for the Santo Antônio Dam was approved against the findings of fish experts, Lula controversially claimed that the dams would not be stopped because of “some catfish.” Now, the catfish are disappearing.

The news is especially troubling only a few years after 11 tons of fish were destroyed during construction of a coffer dam. Meanwhile, construction of the Jirau Dam continues farther upstream; and if the government’s plans move forward to build a third dam on the Madeira River – the Ribeirão Dam – fish species may disappear from this majestic river at an even greater rate.

Earlier this year, Congress unilaterally proclaimed the Ribeirão Dam a “national priority,” despite the dam not appearing on any government plan. It is not mentioned in the Program to Accelerate Growth, nor in the Ten-Year Energy Plans for 2020, nor in the National Energy Plan for 2030. The project has not passed through the Ministry of Planning. And no economic feasibility study, no environmental impact assessment, and no indigenous action plan have ever been sent to IBAMA, and no prior consultations have ever been held. Every indication points to this third dam being a nice serving of pork barrel spending for theRaupp political family in Rondônia.

Will the catfish disappear entirely from the Madeira River? As long as Dilma’s authoritarian dam-building in the Amazon continues, chances are only getting worse.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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Afghan Olive Farms Waiting for Water

Published on 01/27/2012 in agriculture, dams, hydropower, management, policy, rivers, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.ens-newswire.com

“We’re faced with a lack of water,” he said. “The problem is that the canal department is asking for both water and electricity at the same time – and we can’t satisfy both demands simultaneously.”

“The United States Agency for International Development said last year that it was refurbishing and modernizing the dam, where the turbine-driven generators were in poor condition and at risk of failing. The agency said it plans to finish the repair work by mid-2012.

But as Hezatullah, head of the Nangarhar Olive Factory, pointed out, the industry has declined not just because of water shortages, but also as a result of years of war and poor maintenance of farms.

There used to be 700,000 olive trees in the province, which borders on Pakistan, but three-quarters of them were destroyed by decades of war starting with the Soviet invasion of 1979, he said. The farms once employed 12,000 workers, but now run on a skeleton staff of 800.”

Read more: Environment News Service

 

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Sharing The Benefits Of Large Dams

Published on 01/25/2012 in dams, displacement of people, hydropower, management, peak water, policy, privatization and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.ghanaweb.com

“It’s been nearly 50 years since the Akosombo dam was built in Ghana in 1965, flooding the lands and homes of 80,000 people, creating the largest manmade lake in the world, and securing Ghana’s electricity supply.

Since then, west African countries have built more than 150 large dams. Like Akossombo, many have stimulated national development while also bringing considerable environmental and social challenges. Some local grievances have even passed down through the generations, clogging up government offices and courts with complaints over the way ageing dams were built.

Large dam construction largely went out of fashion among major donors after 1990, as global concern grew over local impacts. But the past decade has seen the World Bank and other major multilateral banks renew their support for large dams in the face of increasing energy and food demand. Can these projects avoid repeating history?”

Read more: China Dialogue

 

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Chinese Dam Project in Cambodia Raises Environmental Concerns

Published on 01/22/2012 in dams, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, privatization and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.khmerization.com

“But after the Chinese company Sinohydro, one of the world’s largest construction companies, started work on the 193-megawatt Kamchay Dam in 2007, access to the countryside surrounding this tranquil town has been restricted. Mrs. Thavry’s husband, Kim Sopha, 39, like hundreds of others in nearby villages, must now travel about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, beyond the dam site to collect the bamboo.

“Before, all you needed was a bicycle and a knife,” Mrs. Thavry, a 32-year-old mother of two, said recently as she perched on a small stool outside her wooden home near the riverbank. “But it’s completely different now.”

Today, villagers must take a truck and a boat to arrive at an unrestricted area where bamboo plants grow. Mrs. Thavry’s husband sometimes spends a week at a time in the forest to maximize his pickings and reduce travel expenses.

Downstream from the Kamchay Dam, inaugurated last month by Prime Minister Hun Sen, giant boulders bake in the sun where river waters once flowed. Owners of riverfront restaurants complain that business has fallen now that there is often no water to attract customers who might also enjoy a swim.”

Read more: New York Times

 

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Colombia’s El Quimbo in Limbo

Published on 01/19/2012 in dams, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, privatization, riparian zone, rivers and water diversions. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“The Occupy Movement reached Colombia’s Upper Magdalena River on January 3, 2012. Communities affected by the proposed El Quimbo Dam project paralyzed dam construction by blocking a bridge and road access for 15 days. Inhabitants of this area are concerned that flooding 21,000 acres of fertile lands will wash away the lives of communities that have made these valleys their homes for centuries. Their struggle against Goliath- the project is of a subsidiary of powerful Italian Enel Construction Company- has prevented dam construction from moving forward, and brought new public attention to this problematic project.

As a result of the occupation, several high government authorities agreed to sign a historical agreement with local communities that will result in a review of the project’s impacts and of the legal process that approved its construction, and the implementation of protections for affected peoples and ecosystems. Senator Alexander López requested the suspension of the diversion of the Magdalena River to prevent irreversible damage to the river and the diverse ecosystems it supports. The area is rich in biodiversity, including over 900 ha of riparian forests.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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Project to pour water into volcano to make power

Published on 01/16/2012 in hydropower and solutions and outreach. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Project to pour water into volcano to make power

“Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 24 million gallons of water into the side of a dormant volcano in Central Oregon this summer to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise.

“They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap, clean electricity that isn’t dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes _ without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents.

“Renewable energy has been held back by cheap natural gas, weak demand for power and waning political concern over global warming. Efforts to use the earth’s heat to generate power, known as geothermal energy, have been further hampered by technical problems and worries that tapping it can cause earthquakes.

“Even so, the federal government, Google and other investors are interested enough to bet $43 million on the Oregon project. They are helping AltaRock Energy, Inc. of Seattle and Davenport Newberry Holdings LLC of Stamford, Conn., demonstrate whether the next level in geothermal power development can work on the flanks of Newberrry Volcano, located about 20 miles south of Bend, Ore.”

Read more: SLT today

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