Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Chinese Ambassador Casts Doubt On Myitsone Resumption

Chinese Ambassador Casts Doubt On Myitsone Resumption

By Myanmar Times, July 19th, 2013

http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/7531-chinese-ambassador-casts-doubt-on-myitsone-resumption.html

The Chinese ambassador to Myanmar said he is "not confident" that the
suspended Myitsone Dam project will be restarted, despite continued
lobbying by China Power Investment Corporation.

In an exclusive interview with The Myanmar Times, ambassador Yang Houlan
said CPI's efforts to address concerns surrounding the project, which
was suspended in September 2011 for at least five years, have had little
impact.

"I'm not confident the project can be started," Mr Yang said on July 17.

"For the Chinese company [China Power Investment Corporation], they hope
that they can make some progress through the communications and the
negotiations, but as for now there has been no progress in this regard,"
he said.

The head of the embassy's political section, Gao Mingbo, said that he
"didn't have a clear picture at this stage" whether work would resume on
the hydropower dam in 2015, which is the earliest the suspension could
be lifted.

President U Thein Sein halted the project following fierce opposition
from environmentalists, ethnic minority groups and political activists,
including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

With 90 percent of the electricity generated to be exported to China,
many saw the project as bringing few benefits to Myanmar.

Myitsone is not the only China-backed project to face such criticisms.
The Letpadaung copper mine, a joint venture between military-owned Union
of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and Wanbao, and oil and natural gas
pipelines linking Rakhine State and Yunnan Province have also been
marred by similar accusations.

Mr Yang admitted that the approach Chinese companies had taken in the
past, which he described as "do more, speak less", was no longer
feasible.

"We are not so experienced on how to communicate with local people, how
to make more feasibility studies on the environment and issues connected
with local p[peoples' welfare," said Mr Yang, adding that Chinese firms
could learn from how Western companies approach foreign investment.

Led by Mr Yang, a seasoned diplomat who arrived in Yangon in March after
stints as ambassador in Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula and Nepal, the
Chinese Embassy has stepped up its efforts to improve China's image in
Myanmar. As The Myanmar Times has previously reported, the embassy has
sought to engage Myanmar internet users through social media,
particularly Facebook. It also plans to re-launch its Myanmar-language
magazine, China Today, later this month.

As part of these efforts, the Chinese-Myanmar Enterprises Association
(CMEA), which comprises about 100 Chinese companies that work in
Myanmar, issued a new set of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
initiatives on July 5 in conjunction with the embassy. The two-page
document calls for greater environmental protection, transparency and
interaction with local communities in future projects.

"We are asking [Chinese companies] to adapt to the new situation," Mr
Yang said.

The guidelines show that Chinese companies understand the need to change
their practices but the important test will be whether they are adhered
to. Mr Yang said the embassy would work to ensure compliance but there
is a risk that, however well-intentioned, the guidelines will end up
looking like a public relations stunt.

While maintaining a smile throughout the interview, Mr Yang was clearly
frustrated over the expectations that Chinese companies single-handedly
carry out CSR projects with little or no help from Nay Pyi Taw.

"There are some things that should be the duty of the government but now
the investors have to take charge," Mr Yang said. He cited schools built
by China National Petroleum Corporation along the route of the
China-Myanmar pipelines as an example. Mr Yang said that after the
schools were built the company received complaints from residents that
it had not supplied teachers to staff them.

"Teachers are the government's responsibility. The Chinese company
cannot provide teachers for the schools," Mr Yang said.

He said he felt Chinese companies were also unfairly singled out when
working on projects with companies from other countries, while the
benefits Myanmar could reap from these projects are also rarely reported
in the media.
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Bank of China and Sinohydro add to Chinese presence in Portugal

Bank of China and Sinohydro add to Chinese presence in Portugal
Macau Hub, 22 July 2013

URL:
http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/2013/07/22/bank-of-china-and-sinohydro-add-to-chinese-presence-in-portugal/

Portugal continues to attract large Chinese companies interested in the
European market as well as the Portuguese-speaking African markets, and
now both the Bank of China and Sinohydro are moving into the country.

At the height of the financial crisis and at a time when Portuguese
companies are making great efforts to attract foreign investment, China
is the main source of those investments, starting in 2011 with China
Three Gorges buying a stake in Portuguese power company EDP � Energias
de Portugal and China State Grid Corp buying a stake in Portuguese power
grid company Redes Energ�ticas Nacionais (REN).

The Bank of China now operated in a building in the downtown area of the
Portuguese capital, which was previously the home of Portuguese weekly
newspaper Expresso and Barclays Bank, and the bank's chairman visited
Portugal at the beginning of July for a closed-door ceremony.

At the ceremony, attended by members of the government, the governor of
the Bank of Portugal and the chairmen of some of the country's main
banks as well as business managers, the chairman of the Bank of China,
Tian Guoli, pledged that his bank would help Europe and Portugal to
overcome the crisis and noted that the bank "will continue with its
trend," of focusing on Europe.

"Chinese investors in the last decade looked to the United States and to
Japan, but now its time to cooperate more with Europe, particularly with
Portugal and countries in the south of the continent," said Tian Guoli,
at the opening ceremony of the Bank of China subsidiary in Portugal,
held at the Bel�m Cultural Centre.

China Three Gorges also operates near the heart of Lisbon's business
centre near the Bank of China headquarters.

Weekly newspaper Expresso recently reported that a CTG competitor,
Sinohydro is negotiating to enter the Portuguese market, particularly to
build dams.

This interest was communicated to the Portuguese government, but the
reply was that the hydroelectric portfolio was complete, with projects
from EDP and Spanish companies Endesa and Iberdrola, and that the
alternative would be for some of these projects to become partnerships,
the newspaper said.

Privatisation operations in Portugal, which have become necessary
because of the country's economic and financial crisis, have led to
Chinese companies entering the market.

In 2011 CTG paid US$2.7 billion for 21.35 percent of EDP, Making it the
Portuguese power company's biggest shareholder.

This deal was followed by the acquisition of 25 percent of power grid
company Redes Energ�ticas Nacionais (REN) by the State Grid Corporation
of China (SGCC) for 287.15 million euros.

Solar energy and water and sanitation are new focuses for the activities
of Chinese companies in Portugal.

The Hanergy Solar Group said recently that it had agreed to buy solar
energy parks in Portugal, without naming the seller.

Also in March, French company Veolia announced the sale of its water
business in Portugal, Veolia Water Portugal, for 95 million euros, to
China's Beijing Enterprises Water Group, the leader in water treatment
systems in China.

Beijing Enterprises Water Group is now responsible for supplying water
in four areas (Mafra, Ourem, Paredes and Valongo) and for waste water
treatment in three areas of the Algarve, Portugal�s southernmost region.

This deal was the biggest in the Iberian water sector since 2009, the
biggest in Portugal since 2008 and the first involving a Chinese
investor in the Iberian water sector.

Recently, the Morning Whistle website reported that the board of China
Mobile had started the process of analysing the macroeconomic and
economic climate of five countries, including Portugal, in order to
invest in them.
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Ethiopia: Renaissance Dam leaves diaspora cold

From Africa Energy Intelligence

n�703 - 16/07/2013

Renaissance leaves diaspora cold

Efforts by Addis Ababa to get Ethiopians living abroad to help finance a huge dam seem to be falling flat.
Ethiopia issued a bond in 2011 to drum up funds from Ethiopians living overseas and called it the �diaspora bond.� Earmarked for the construction of the 6000 MW Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD) on the Blue Nile that is due to cost $4.8 billion the issue hasn�t caught on. Ethiopian embassies abroad which were asked to collect the money have failed to stir much excitement about the bonds. Their interest rate is low, between 1.25% and 2% but the interest is guaranteed. Another bond was issued in 2008 by theEthiopian Electric Power Corporation with a guaranteed annual rate of between 4 and 5%.

According to Ethiopian embassy sources, only a few hundred thousand dollars had been raised by mid-2013 from major communities of Ethiopians living in Chicago and San Diego in the United States and Oslo in Norway. In 2011, Bereket Simon, who was then Ethiopia�s communications minister, announced that $400 million had been raised for the EEPCO bond and other infrastructure programs launched by the government. But that figure included money from Ethiopian civil servants.

As a result, most of Ethiopia�s funding for Renaissance will have to come from the government (at least $3 billion). The remainder is to be put up by Chinese banks. In 2011, the National Bank of Ethiopia ordered commercial banks to buy government bonds to the equivalent of 27% of their loans.

The failure of the appeal to the Ethiopia�s diaspora to dig into their pockets hasn�t discouraged Nigeria from doing likewise.

Last May, vice president Namadi Sambo announced in Toronto the Abuja was issuing a bond worth several billion niaras to get Nigerians living abroad to finance infrastructure in power projects.


� Indigo Publications. Reproduction and dissemination prohibited (photocopy, Intranet...) without written permission. 11263200
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The World Bank is bringing back big, bad dams

[Sorry for cross-posting]

The World Bank is bringing back big, bad dams
The Guardian, Environment Blog, 16 July 2013
By Peter Bosshard
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jul/16/world-bank-dams-africa

The big, bad dams of past decades are back in style.

In the 1950s and '60s, huge hydropower projects such as the Kariba,
Akosombo and Inga dams were supposed to modernise poor African countries
almost overnight. It didn't work out this way. As the independent World
Commission on Dams found, such big, complex schemes cost far more but
produce less energy than expected. Their primary beneficiaries are
mining companies and aluminium smelters, while Africa's poor have been
left high and dry.

The Inga 1 and 2 dams on the Congo River are a case in point. After
donors have spent billions of dollars on them, 85% of the electricity in
the Democratic Republic of Congo is used by high-voltage consumers but
less than 10% of the population has access to electricity. The
communities displaced by the Inga and Kariba dams continue to fight for
their compensation and economic rehabilitation after 50 years. Instead
of offering a shortcut to prosperity, such projects have become an
albatross on Africa's development. Large dams have also helped turn
freshwater into the ecosystem most affected by species extinction.

Under public pressure, the World Bank and other financiers largely
withdrew from funding large dams in the mid-1990s. For nearly 20 years,
the bank has supported mid-sized dams and rehabilitated existing
hydropower projects instead.

Following a trend set by new financiers from China and Brazil, the World
Bank now wants to return to supporting mega-dams that aim to transform
whole regions. In March, it argued that such projects could "catalyse
very large-scale benefits to improve access to infrastructure services"
and combat climate change at the same time. Its board of directors will
discuss the return to mega-dams as part of a new energy strategy on Tuesday.

The World Bank has identified the $12bn (£8bn) Inga 3 Dam on the Congo
River - the most expensive hydropower project ever proposed in Africa -
and two other multi-billion dollar schemes on the Zambezi River as
illustrative examples of its new approach. All three projects would
primarily generate electricity for the mining companies and middle-class
consumers of Southern Africa.

The World Bank ignores that better solutions are readily available. In
the past 10 years, governments and private investors installed more new
wind power than hydropower capacity. Last year, even solar power - long
decried as a Mickey Mouse technology by the dam industry - caught up
with new hydropower investment. Wind and solar power are not only
climate friendly, they are also more effective than big dams in reaching
the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa, most of whom are not connected to
the electric grid.

The International Energy Agency recommends that more than 60% of the
funds required to bring about universal access to electricity be
invested in distributed renewable energy projects such as wind, solar
and small hydropower plants. Yet so far, funding for bringing these
promising technologies to Africa has been woefully lacking. Like other
donors, the World Bank is behind the curve on this. In 2007-12, it spent
$5.4bn on hydropower, but only $2bn on wind and solar projects combined.
A renewed focus on mega-dams would make matters worse.

Is the World Bank blinded by an outdated ideology? More likely, its
return to mega-dams is driven by institutional self-interest. A strategy
paper leaked from the bank in 2011 recognised that the increase in
project size "may seem somewhat at odds with the goal of scaling up
activities in areas where many potential projects - such as solar, wind
and micro-hydropower ... tend to be small". Yet, the paper argued, the
"ratio of preparation and supervision costs to total project size" is
bigger for small projects than large, centralised schemes, and so bank
managers are "disincentivised" from undertaking small projects.

The World Bank, in other words, still finds it easier to spend billions
of dollars on mega-projects than to support the small, decentralized
projects that are most effective at expanding energy access in rural
areas. It appears to be caught in the development model of past decades.
If internal constraints prevent the bank from doing what is best for the
poor, governments should find other vehicles for reducing energy poverty
and combating climate change.
________________________________________________

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Guardian: The World Bank is bringing back big, bad dams

The World Bank is bringing back big, bad dams
The Guardian, Environment Blog, 16 July 2013
By Peter Bosshard
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jul/16/world-bank-dams-africa

The big, bad dams of past decades are back in style.

In the 1950s and '60s, huge hydropower projects such as the Kariba,
Akosombo and Inga dams were supposed to modernise poor African countries
almost overnight. It didn't work out this way. As the independent World
Commission on Dams found, such big, complex schemes cost far more but
produce less energy than expected. Their primary beneficiaries are
mining companies and aluminium smelters, while Africa's poor have been
left high and dry.

The Inga 1 and 2 dams on the Congo River are a case in point. After
donors have spent billions of dollars on them, 85% of the electricity in
the Democratic Republic of Congo is used by high-voltage consumers but
less than 10% of the population has access to electricity. The
communities displaced by the Inga and Kariba dams continue to fight for
their compensation and economic rehabilitation after 50 years. Instead
of offering a shortcut to prosperity, such projects have become an
albatross on Africa's development. Large dams have also helped turn
freshwater into the ecosystem most affected by species extinction.

Under public pressure, the World Bank and other financiers largely
withdrew from funding large dams in the mid-1990s. For nearly 20 years,
the bank has supported mid-sized dams and rehabilitated existing
hydropower projects instead.

Following a trend set by new financiers from China and Brazil, the World
Bank now wants to return to supporting mega-dams that aim to transform
whole regions. In March, it argued that such projects could "catalyse
very large-scale benefits to improve access to infrastructure services"
and combat climate change at the same time. Its board of directors will
discuss the return to mega-dams as part of a new energy strategy on Tuesday.

The World Bank has identified the $12bn (£8bn) Inga 3 Dam on the Congo
River - the most expensive hydropower project ever proposed in Africa -
and two other multi-billion dollar schemes on the Zambezi River as
illustrative examples of its new approach. All three projects would
primarily generate electricity for the mining companies and middle-class
consumers of Southern Africa.

The World Bank ignores that better solutions are readily available. In
the past 10 years, governments and private investors installed more new
wind power than hydropower capacity. Last year, even solar power - long
decried as a Mickey Mouse technology by the dam industry - caught up
with new hydropower investment. Wind and solar power are not only
climate friendly, they are also more effective than big dams in reaching
the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa, most of whom are not connected to
the electric grid.

The International Energy Agency recommends that more than 60% of the
funds required to bring about universal access to electricity be
invested in distributed renewable energy projects such as wind, solar
and small hydropower plants. Yet so far, funding for bringing these
promising technologies to Africa has been woefully lacking. Like other
donors, the World Bank is behind the curve on this. In 2007-12, it spent
$5.4bn on hydropower, but only $2bn on wind and solar projects combined.
A renewed focus on mega-dams would make matters worse.

Is the World Bank blinded by an outdated ideology? More likely, its
return to mega-dams is driven by institutional self-interest. A strategy
paper leaked from the bank in 2011 recognised that the increase in
project size "may seem somewhat at odds with the goal of scaling up
activities in areas where many potential projects - such as solar, wind
and micro-hydropower ... tend to be small". Yet, the paper argued, the
"ratio of preparation and supervision costs to total project size" is
bigger for small projects than large, centralised schemes, and so bank
managers are "disincentivised" from undertaking small projects.

The World Bank, in other words, still finds it easier to spend billions
of dollars on mega-projects than to support the small, decentralized
projects that are most effective at expanding energy access in rural
areas. It appears to be caught in the development model of past decades.
If internal constraints prevent the bank from doing what is best for the
poor, governments should find other vehicles for reducing energy poverty
and combating climate change.
________________________________________________

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Sunday, July 14, 2013

Two reports on Sinohydro worker disputes

Niger union slams Chinese firm's labour practices, threatens to organize
strike
14 July 2013, BBC Monitoring Africa

Text of report by French state-funded public broadcaster Radio France
Internationale on 12 July

[Presenter] In Niger, the Union Mine Workers, Synamin, is making its
voice heard. The Synamin has given an ultimatum to the Chinese
state-owned company, Sinohydro.

It condemned the dismissal of workers and a hostile attitude to the
union. The Chinese firm has up to today noon to react failure to which
the union will call the thousands of its members to stage a strike from
Monday [15 July]. Moussa Ibrahim is Synamin's national secretary-general.

[Ibrahim] These people terminate members of staff from employment every
day. They do it without any due consideration. They terminate simple
workers from employment. They also sack employee representatives, and
especially those representing workers. The representatives are sent to
work at the construction site for one year. In Sinohydro, the employees
are under placed under permanent stressful conditions. That means the
employess work under pressure. There are many sqabbles between the Niger
nationals and the Chinese. [Words indistinct] The job is very precarious
for the staff whether you are a representative or not. They want to fire
all the employee representatives who are fighting for workers' rights.

[Presenter] The interview was conducted by Jean-Pierre Boris.

Source: Radio France Internationale, Paris, in French 0530 GMT 12 Jul 13

***

Illegal Chinese Workers in Central Vietnam Causes Social Insecurity

13 July 2013, Vietnam News Brief Service

Hundreds of Chinese people who are working without license in a
hydropower project in Vietnam�s central province of Quang Nam have
caused social insecurity to the locality. The Thanh Nien newspaper
reported Tuesday.

The workers who were hired by Sinohydro Corporation, the Chinese
contractor of the 156-MW Song Bung 4 hydropower plant, without
permission from local authorities have been involved in fighting,
stealing, assaults to local people.

Over the past three years, the Chinese workers with the majority of
untrained ones turned Ta Poo, the peaceful mountainous commune, into a
place of chaos with frequent fighting and social evils, said Krieng
Dieu, head of the locality's police.

At most projects in Vietnam, regardless of sectors, Chinese contractors
normally use untrained workers from China without permission from
Vietnamese authorities. The total number of those workers may be thousands.
________________________________________________

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Reservoir Clog - NewsChina Magazine

Reservoir Clog

NewsChina Magazine July 2013 Issue | by Wang Yan

http://www.newschinamag.com/magazine/reservoir-clog

Over the past eight years, villagers living by the Jinsha River in the
upper reaches of the Yangtze, near Hutiaoxia (known in English as
"Tiger Leaping Gorge"), have been haunted by uncertainty. While a major
project to dam the gorge has been suspended thanks to protests from
environmentalists and specialists in various sectors, no-one is certain
if the project has been permanently canceled � the villagers have no
idea whether or not their homes have been saved from the threat of flooding.

"The debate on whether or not to build the dam has been dragging on for
almost a decade, and in Shigu town where my family lives, most of the
10,000 locals, like me, are against the project," Yang Xueqin, a stocky
man in his early fifties told NewsChina in early May. "We got our way in
the previous round of debate. But we now see signs that the project will
be re-launched. We are very worried," he added.

For Yang Xueqin and other residents in the region, the development of
the Jinsha River, a plan initiated in the mid-2000s by hydropower
companies and the provincial government, is a sword of Damocles above
their heads.

The "signs" Yang refers to are in the newly issued "National 12th Five
Year Plan (2011-2015) for Energy Development," which emphasizes the
"active development" of hydropower projects, as well as other clean
energy resources.

According to the plan, hydropower construction along the middle and
lower streams of the Jinsha, Lancang (Mekong), Yalong and Dadu rivers,
the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the middle sections of the
Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) and Nu (Salween) rivers, will press ahead
with renewed enthusiasm. Li Bo, director of the environmental group
Friends of Nature (FON), said: "The plan, if implemented, would mark a
big step backward for the efforts made by environmental organizations
over the past decade."

Construction Craze

To develop clean energy and cut carbon emissions, China aims to raise
the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy consumption to 15 percent by
2020, up from 9.4 percent in 2011. Hydropower is expected to make up
more than half of this contribution. By the end of 2012, China's total
installed hydropower capacity accounted for 250 gigawatts, already
ranking top in the world.

The new energy plan is regarded as an official commitment to speeding up
construction of dams between 2011 and 2015, after a lapse following the
completion of the main body of the controversial Three Gorges Dam
project in 2006.

At the local level, however, dam construction and hydropower projects
have never stopped.

The middle sections of the Jinsha River cover 564 kilometers between
Shigu town in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, and Yabijiang in Panzhihua city
of Sichuan Province. According to the initial middle Jinsha River
development plan, eight terraced hydropower stations are to be built
along the section, starting with Longpan in Tiger Leaping Gorge,
followed up by Liangjiaren, Ahai, Liyuan, Jin'anqiao, Longkaikou, Ludila
and Guanyinyan. The total investment would reach 150 billion yuan
(US$24.5bn), and the total installation capacity would reach 21
gigawatts, equal to that of the Three Gorges Dam.

Over the past decade, campaigns opposing dam construction on the Jinsha
and Nu rivers have attracted global attention. In 2004, the Chinese
government floated initial proposals for damming projects on the Jinsha
River. The plan also included Tiger Leaping Gorge as an essential part
of the development of a vast area known as "Three Rivers Flowing
Abreast" in Yunnan, a region on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites.
Due to protests from environmentalists and scientists, the then Premier
Wen Jiabao ordered the suspension of the project, and the Yunnan
provincial government finally shelved the plan in 2007. However,
NewsChina has learned that aside from the main reservoir at Longpan,
construction of seven other dams in the same project, lying just outside
the boundaries of the world heritage site, had either begun or had been
completed, even though some of them had not been approved by the State
Council.

Projects on other rivers have been springing up all over the country,
particularly in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces (see "Stemming the Tide,"
NewsChina, April 2011). In mid-May, amid concern from scientists over
the project's geographic and ecological impact, the Ministry of
Environmental Protection (MEP) granted approval to the construction of
what will become the country's biggest hydroelectric dam � the
Shuangjiangkou project � on the Dadu River, a tributary of the Yangtze
in Sichuan Province. Upon completion, this dam, with a height of 314
meters (1,030 feet), would dwarf the 185-meter Three Gorges Dam.

The project, according to the MEP, would have a negative impact on rare
flora and fish species, and would also affect local nature reserves. In
2011, Yuan Guoqing from the Chengdu Geotechnical Engineering
Investigation Design Institute published an article entitled "Study on
the Slope Stability of the Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station" in the
Sichuan Geological Journal, claiming that the large number of
precariously balanced rocks and stones on the slopes over the project
site could potentially pose a large threat to the construction of the dam.

Danger Overhead

Now, along the rivers of southwest China, terraced hydropower stations
are a common sight. In Sichuan Province, for instance, there are a total
of 7,000 dams either under construction or completed � there are so far
over 365 reservoirs and dams being constructed along the 1,000 kilometer
course of the Dadu River alone. These cascading reservoirs stimy the
natural flow of the Dadu River, leaving the riverbed dry in many sections.

Wang Yongchen, 58, founder of Green Earth Volunteer, an environmental
NGO in Beijing, has been visiting six major rivers � the Min, Dadu,
Yalong, Jinsha, Mekong and the Nu � once a year for the past eight
years, to observe change.

In late April, after finishing her eighth tour along these major rivers,
Wang told NewsChina: "New dams are being constructed non-stop on all
these rivers, mostly in seismically unstable regions."

According to Wang, she and other team members have personally witnessed
landslides on the slopes surrounding several dam projects, "At Maji, one
of the four hydropower plants on the Nu river and part of the hydropower
construction spree in the 12th Five Year Plan, the dam is to be built on
a mountain slope composed of shale rocks, which are soft and unstable,"
Wang continued. "Unstable geographical locations have caused the deaths
of many people due to collapses or landslides."

One particularly pressing concern is that the reservoirs might induce
earthquakes.

Globally, scientists believe that there have been over 100 earthquakes
triggered by reservoirs � a phenomenon known as Reservoir-Induced
Seismicity (RIS). After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 that measured
8.0 on the Richter scale, experts in both domestic and international
academic circles claimed that the Zipingpu Dam, constructed on the
Longmenshan Fault, had helped trigger the quake.

"I cannot say there is direct proof that the Zipingpu Reservoir
triggered the earthquake," Liu Shukun, 73, a professor at the China
Water Resources and Hydropower Institute, told NewsChina. "But what has
been proven is that the construction of dams can impact geology."

Geologists Wang Huilin and Zhang Xiaodong analyzed the data they
collected while observing the reservoir in question between 2004 and
2008, and concluded in an article published in Acta Seismologica Sinica
in September 2012 that "water storage had enhanced seismic activity in
the reservoir area and increased the activity of small earthquakes of
magnitudes up to two on the Richter scale."

"We might need further study to pinpoint the cause of the Wenchuan
earthquake," said Liu Shukun. "But at least now we should be more
cautious about building hydropower stations in seismic fault areas."

In early May, Li Yonggang, an earthquake expert from the University of
Southern California, said that the 7.0-magnitude earthquake along the
Longmenshan Fault at Ya'an, Sichuan Province in late April had a similar
seismic pattern to the Wenchuan earthquake of 2008. He predicted more
earthquakes in Sichuan and Yunnan in the not-too-distant future.

Unfortunately, there are already thousands of dams in these two provinces.

"In fact, the severe environmental impact of the Three Gorges Dam on the
local ecology has appeared in the past few years," Liu Shukun told
NewsChina. "We should not embark on any more dam projects before we
conduct sufficient research and assessment."

Clean and Cheap?

From the very beginning, there has been heated debate between dam
construction supporters, such as the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC), and those opposed to dam construction, such as
environmentalists and some scientists. Advocates claim that the foremost
advantages of hydropower are that it is clean, renewable energy, costing
only 25 percent of the equivalent thermal power.

But the pro-dam camp's claims are questioned by experts and the public.

Aside from the damage done to aquatic ecosystems, they argue high levels
of greenhouse gases are emitted throughout the construction of dams, and
in the operation of hydropower stations.

Dam projects require the construction of infrastructure such as roads,
often resulting in deforestation and the consumption of large quantities
of cement and steel. When the reservoir is filled, the submerged plants
and trees will rot, releasing potentially harmful biogases. Decades
later, when the dam is eventually decommissioned, explosives will likely
be used, potentially resulting in even more environmental damage.

"We cannot say hydropower is clean energy, since each case requires
scientific evaluation," said Liu Shukun, the senior hydropower expert.

"Now, the biggest problem facing our country's hydroelectricity
development is at the most basic theoretical level. Our education has
taught us the abundant economic benefits of hydropower, while ignoring
the related environmental impact," said Liu. He said that China's
enthusiasm for dams is based on the energy policy of the Soviet Union in
the 1950s.

Lu Zhi, founder of the Shan Shui Conservation Center and professor of
conservation biology at Peking University, said the building of large
dams in China is done without comprehensive, long-term planning, and
water resources are used irrationally. "Some hydropower stations have a
�grave effect' on biodiversity and freshwater ecosystems and, taken as a
whole, are not necessarily beneficial. Large dams will actually impact
our ability to adapt to climate change," said L�.

China's feed-in tariff on hydroelectricity is mostly between 0.2 and 0.3
yuan (3 to 5 US cents) per KWH, but the on-grid price of thermal or
nuclear power is much higher. Water, the cheapest resource for power
generation in the short term, can bring investors returns as high as 36
percent, perhaps the main reason behind the current dam construction spree.

According to statistics obtained by China Central Television (CCTV), in
2011, there were a total of 140 GW hydropower installations under
construction across the country, with a combined capacity eight times
that of the Three Gorges project.

The low cost of hydropower projects, according to Liu Zhi, a researcher
with The Transition Institute, a consultancy firm based in Beijing, is
due to two factors: the low cost of relocating local residents, and the
low cost of "clearing the ground," a euphemism for ecological destruction.

In most cases, large dam projects are seen by local governments as an
important opportunity to increase local revenue, meaning that
State-owned power companies can count on the support of these authorities.

Local populations displaced by dam construction have no right to
negotiate with developers, and are ordered to relocate by the
government, usually with very little compensation.

"Power generated by hydropower projects is transmitted to
energy-consuming manufacturing hubs," Liu Zhi told NewsChina. According
to Liu, in order to acquire an abundance of cheap hydroelectricity,
heavy-industry players, such as those in the mining and metallurgy
sectors, are keen to invest in dam construction, which only serves to
worsen pollution.

"Innumerable mining companies and other high energy-consuming projects
are seen operating in Yunnan and Sichuan as a result of the oversupply
of hydropower," said Wang Yongchen. "In some areas, we saw the
ridiculous phenomenon of private hydropower providers being ordered by
the local government to temporarily turn off their turbines due to power
overcapacity."

The costs of human relocation and ecological compensation have forced
most developed countries to scale back their plans for new dams. Yet in
China, the government-backed dam construction spree continues unabated.
"Hydropower development in the country is far from a market-oriented
undertaking, as the developers play the combined role of local
governments and hydropower company," Liu Zhi told NewsChina.

"Taking into account elements such as relocation costs and ecological
destruction, among others, the hydropower price may not be cheaper than
thermal power or other forms of energy," claimed Han Xiuji, a
sociologist from Beijing University of Technology.

Bottom Line

Over 75 percent of China's total water resources are in the country's
southwest, and, according to the latest National Renewable Energy Plan,
the country's total hydropower capacity would increase to 420 GW by
2020. The upcoming decade is expected to see a continuing surge of
hydropower projects.

"If we are bent on having more dams, we should at least stop building
terraced hydropower stations that segment and destroy entire rivers,"
Professor Liu Shukun told NewsChina. "Enough distance should be left
between the dams for the sake of preserving the habitat of fish, and
other ecological resources."

Weng Lida, former head of the Bureau of Yangtze River Water Resources
Protection, once said that comprehensive planning for each individual
watershed is a prerequisite to the exploration of large rivers, and the
hydropower development plan should be in line with the overall watershed
plan.

"However, we do not yet have an advanced watershed planning system. For
the Jinsha River, though it has been overexploited, I still hope 50
percent of the river's course will remain free of dams, and that the
natural river flow will be guaranteed for the sake of protection of the
overall environment," said Liu Shukun.

Most farmers in Shigu by the banks of the Jinsha River have lived there
for generations, living off the land's fertile soil and sufficient
natural resources. However, this could all soon come to an end as a
result of the country's hydropower-focused energy development plan.

"Although the Diqing Prefecture government promised in 2006 that it
would not dam Tiger Leaping Gorge as long as the majority of local
people disagreed with the project, we know we have no way to negotiate
if the project is locked in by official decisions," said Yang Xueqin.
According to Yang, if the reservoir is built and begins to store water,
his home, along with those of 100,000 other people, could be submerged.

"New dams are being constructed non-stop on all these rivers, mostly in
seismically unstable regions."
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China's development banks need to clean up their act

China's development banks need to clean up their act
By Kevin Gallagher
The Guardian, Poverty Matters Blog, July 9, 2013
www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jul/10/china-development-banks-environment?CMP=twt_fd

Chinese cash is a welcome option for developing countries from Burma to
Gabon, but projects must respect environmental and social concerns

China is redefining the global development agenda. While the west
preaches trade liberalisation and financial deregulation, China
orchestrates massive infrastructure and industrial policies under
regulated trade and financial markets. China transformed its economy and
brought more than 600 million people out of poverty. Western policies
led to financial crises, slow growth and relatively less poverty
alleviation across the globe.

China is now exporting its model across the world. The China Development
Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (EIBC) now provide more
financing to developing countries than the World Bank does. What is
more, China's finance doesn't come with the harsh conditions – such as
trade liberalisation and fiscal austerity – that western-backed finance
has. China's development banks are not only doing good across the world,
they are helping China's bottom line as they make a strong profit and
often provide opportunities for Chinese firms.

However, China's global stride may be jeopardised unless it begins to
incorporate environmental and social safeguards into its overseas
operations. In a policy memorandum (pdf) for the Paulson Institute, I
note how there is a growing backlash against China's development banks
on these grounds. By remedying these concerns China can become the
global leader in development finance.

There are a growing number of cases where Chinese financial institutions
may be losing ground over social and environmental concerns. The Belinga
iron ore deposit in Gabon was contracted in 2007 between the government
in Libreville and the China Machinery Energy Corporation, with financing
from EIBC. The project sparked significant local protest over its
environmental impact, and, as a result, has been perpetually
renegotiated and delayed, and may ultimately be denied.

Another example is CDB's multibillion-dollar China-Burma oil and gas
pipeline projects, which have received similar local scrutiny. The
"Shwe" gas project is co-ordinated by China National Petroleum
Corporation, which has contracted some operations to Sinohydro. Local
civil society organisations have mounted campaigns against land
confiscation with limited compensation, loss of livelihood, the role of
Burmese security forces in protecting the project, and environmental
degradation: deforestation, river dredging and chemical pollution.

A third example is the Patuca hydroelectric project in Honduras,
supported by EIBC and operated by Sinohydro. Approved by the Honduran
government in 2011, one of the projects is said to entail flooding 42km
of rainforest slated to be part of Patuca national park and the Tawahka
Asangni biosphere reserve. The project was denounced by local civil
society organisations, which cited the shaky foundations of the
project's environmental impact assessment. NGOs, including International
Rivers and The Nature Conservancy, have also sought to re-evaluate the
project. Such campaigns, uniting locally affected communities with
globally recognised NGOs that have access to media worldwide, have
slowed projects and tainted investor image.

Environment-related political risk can severely affect the bottom line
of the major Chinese development banks to the extent that local
scepticism and protests result in delays or even loss of projects. Doing
the right thing on the environment and human rights would help maintain
China's market access and help mitigate risks to China's development banks.

Adopting established international norms may help China's banks to
secure markets in more developed countries. Chinese banks clearly seek
to further penetrate markets such as the US and Europe, where an even
higher level of environmental and social standards exists. Establishing
a track record of good practice in emerging markets and developing
countries could help Chinese banks assimilate, adapt and ultimately
incorporate such practices into their daily operations, an experience
that could prove essential as they also seek to navigate markets in
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

For decades, developing countries have pined for a development bank that
provides finance for inclusive growth and sustainable development –
without draconian conditions. If China's development banks can add
substantial social and environmental safeguards, they can become the
beacon of 21st century development finance.
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Karuma villagers (in Uganda) want dam halted

(sorry for x-postings!)

Karuma villagers want dam halted

The Observer (Uganda)
By Edward Ssekika, 9 July 2013
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26320:karuma-villagers-want-dam-halted&catid=79:businesstopstories&Itemid=68

After winning the contract for the construction of Karuma hydropower project, Chinese firm Sinohydro promised to start work within two weeks.

However, this might not be possible, following fresh wrangles that threaten to delay the project. Besides compensation wrangles, a rival Chinese company, China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), has gone to court to challenge the award of the contract to Synohydro.

The families affected by the project have petitioned the Electricity Disputes Tribunal, pursuant to the Electricity Act, seeking to halt construction of the dam until compensation rates have been agreed on.

Once completed in seven years' time, the dam is expected to spur economic growth.

In a representative suit between William Ogik versus Attorney General, more than 54 project-affected families are contesting the "meagre" compensation rates offered. According to the complainants, the rates are inconsistent with inflation trends in the country.

Ogik is one of the residents of Awoo and Diima villages, Mutunda sub-county, Kiryandongo district, who must pave way for the construction of the 600MW hydropower project. The Karuma dam project is to displace more than 400 families in the four villages of Karuma, Awoo, Nora, and Akurudia in Kiryandongo district.

"We want the project but we need to be reasonably compensated. We want the right value for our property," Ogik told The Observer after appearing before the tribunal.

Ogik wants the tribunal to order for the compensation rates to be reviewed upwards, describing what is being offered as "too low and doesn�t take into account the current market value of our property."

According to the chief government valuer, a mature local mango tree is worth Shs 65,000, but the locals say Shs 260,000 would be more appropriate. When the affected person�s own proposed rates were rejected, a legal challenge was mounted.

"I take this opportunity on behalf of 54 other project affected people to lodge my complaint with your office to intervene and ensure that project developers of Karuma stop cheating us by using old and outdated low compensation rates," Ogik's petition to the tribunal reads in part.

The affected people want the tribunal to accept their proposed rates and compel the developers to use them as the basis for compensation, something that the Attorney General disputes.

"We ask that the project should be stopped until the issues of compensation rates are settled," Ogik writes in his petition.

The compensation case has been adjourned to July 30, 2013, after the attorney general asked for more time to allocate the case to a new lawyer. Martin Mwambutsya, a state attorney, told the tribunal that Edson Karuhanga, who was handling the case on behalf of the attorney general, has since left his job. Mwambutsya, therefore, needed time to acquaint himself with the case.

"I'm distressed, the attorney general keeps on seeking for adjournment," Ogik complained.

Dickens Kamugisha, Chief Executive Officer of African Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), argued that seeking for adjournments is a trick that government uses to frustrate petitioners such that they can give up on their demands.

But Ogik says the complainants are determined to block the project if compensation is not addressed.
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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Karuma villagers (in Uganda) want dam halted

Karuma villagers want dam halted

The Observer (Uganda)
By Edward Ssekika, 9 July 2013
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26320:karuma-villagers-want-dam-halted&catid=79:businesstopstories&Itemid=68

After winning the contract for the construction of Karuma hydropower
project, Chinese firm Sinohydro promised to start work within two weeks.

However, this might not be possible, following fresh wrangles that
threaten to delay the project. Besides compensation wrangles, a rival
Chinese company, China International Water and Electric Corporation
(CWE), has gone to court to challenge the award of the contract to
Synohydro.

The families affected by the project have petitioned the Electricity
Disputes Tribunal, pursuant to the Electricity Act, seeking to halt
construction of the dam until compensation rates have been agreed on.

Once completed in seven years' time, the dam is expected to spur
economic growth.

In a representative suit between William Ogik versus Attorney General,
more than 54 project-affected families are contesting the "meagre"
compensation rates offered. According to the complainants, the rates are
inconsistent with inflation trends in the country.

Ogik is one of the residents of Awoo and Diima villages, Mutunda
sub-county, Kiryandongo district, who must pave way for the construction
of the 600MW hydropower project. The Karuma dam project is to displace
more than 400 families in the four villages of Karuma, Awoo, Nora, and
Akurudia in Kiryandongo district.

"We want the project but we need to be reasonably compensated. We want
the right value for our property," Ogik told The Observer after
appearing before the tribunal.

Ogik wants the tribunal to order for the compensation rates to be
reviewed upwards, describing what is being offered as "too low and
doesn�t take into account the current market value of our property."

According to the chief government valuer, a mature local mango tree is
worth Shs 65,000, but the locals say Shs 260,000 would be more
appropriate. When the affected person�s own proposed rates were
rejected, a legal challenge was mounted.

"I take this opportunity on behalf of 54 other project affected people
to lodge my complaint with your office to intervene and ensure that
project developers of Karuma stop cheating us by using old and outdated
low compensation rates," Ogik's petition to the tribunal reads in part.

The affected people want the tribunal to accept their proposed rates and
compel the developers to use them as the basis for compensation,
something that the Attorney General disputes.

"We ask that the project should be stopped until the issues of
compensation rates are settled," Ogik writes in his petition.

The compensation case has been adjourned to July 30, 2013, after the
attorney general asked for more time to allocate the case to a new
lawyer. Martin Mwambutsya, a state attorney, told the tribunal that
Edson Karuhanga, who was handling the case on behalf of the attorney
general, has since left his job. Mwambutsya, therefore, needed time to
acquaint himself with the case.

"I'm distressed, the attorney general keeps on seeking for adjournment,"
Ogik complained.

Dickens Kamugisha, Chief Executive Officer of African Institute for
Energy Governance (AFIEGO), argued that seeking for adjournments is a
trick that government uses to frustrate petitioners such that they can
give up on their demands.

But Ogik says the complainants are determined to block the project if
compensation is not addressed.
________________________________________________

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Monday, July 8, 2013

Congo-Kinshasa: Inga III - the Giant Is Awakening

Congo-Kinshasa: Inga III - the Giant Is Awakening
By Francois Misser, 4 July 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201307041225.html


Within slightly more than two years, construction work for a third dam and hydropower station should start at the Inga falls on the Congo river in the Bas-Congo province, about 230 km downstream of Kinshasa.

At least that is the Congolese government's intention, expressed on the 17 and 18 May at a Paris conference attended by a number of potential financiers. These included the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Agence Fran�aise de D�veloppement (AFD).

According to the Congolese Minister of Water Resources and Electricity, Bruno Kapandji Kalala, construction works will take approximately six years. The project, the total cost of which is estimated by the AfDB at US $12 billion, would generate 4800 MW - more than half (2500 MW) of which will be sold to South Africa.

Inga III, which is the first phase of the far more ambitious Grand Inga project, is one of the New Economic Partnership for African Development's (NEPAD) flagship projects. It will involve huge works. First of all, part of the flow will be diverted upstream of the existing Inga I (351 MW) and Inga II dams (1424 MW) to a presently dry valley which runs parallel to the Congo riverbed. Further phases would involve the construction of a dam which would entirely bar the course of the Congo River and divert most of the flow towards the Bundi valley and Inga III, whose 100 meter-high wall would enable the production of more electricity by additional turbines, up to 39,000 MW.

The capacity of the project would be almost double what is currently the world's largest hydroelectric project - the Three Gorges dam on the Yangze Kiang River in China (22 500 MW). The ultimate aim, according to AfDB plans, is to build interconnections or "power highways" from Inga across the entire continent - not only to Southern Africa but also to Egypt, Nigeria and Ethiopia (which ranks second after the DRC in terms of African hydropower potential).

The schedule for Inga III, however, looks rather challenging. Many participants at the Paris conference got the feeling that the timing has been more inspired by Kabila's political agenda than by technical and financial constraints. Observers noted that the date fixed for the start of the work is just one year ahead of the forthcoming presidential election, scheduled for late 2016. But a number of difficult conditions must be met before the bulldozers start operating.

Firstly, the entire design of the project must still be fine-tuned; even though Electricit� de France and the US-Canadian consultants RSW International have just completed a $15 million study of the development of the site, financed by the AfDB. Last June, the AfDB and the Congolese government signed two agreements for a total $5.25 million in order to set up the structure of the project. Distinct project, transport and power marketing companies still need to be created. Besides, technical studies on Inga III must be carried out and tenders on the infrastructure, electro-mechanical supplies and power line installation need to be launched.

Thus far, the Congolese and South African governments have initialled a bilateral treaty for the development of the Grand Inga project, which must still be ratified by both parliaments. The transit countries of the high power line, namely Zambia and Zimbabwe, which will bring the electricity from Inga to Witkop, 3,600 km to the South in the Cape Province, will also have to be among the stakeholders.

In Congo itself, civil society organisations (such as the Coalition for Reforms and Public Actions) want to be sure that this time, the electricity produced by the Inga project, will be of benefit to the regions crossed by the high power line. There is enormous frustration in Western Kasai and Bandundu provinces because the Inga-Katanga high power line (which was built in 1982), passes through without providing any power to these regions.

The other challenge, of course, is the funding of the project. For the ex-CEO of the Soci�t� Nationale d'�lectricit�, No�l Vika di Panzu, the only possible option is a public private partnership - owing to the large size of the project, which represents more than twice the volume of the European Union's investments in infrastructure in Africa over a five year period.

The stakes are so considerable that three consortia are competing to build Inga III. One is formed by Sinohydro and the Three Gorges Corporation of China, which can boast the experience acquired in the construction of the huge dam on the Yangze River. The second group is made up by Posco and Daewoo of South Korea in association with the Canadian engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin. Spain's Actividades de Construccion y Servicios, Eurofinsa and AEE are also, reportedly, in the initial stages of developing a proposal.

The Chinese are, however, in pole position because these corporations boast the backing of powerful financial institutions such as the China Development Bank or the Eximbank of China and also because another Chinese company, the China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC), is profiling itself as a client which would guarantee the financial viability of the project. CPIC has indeed proposed to the Congolese government that it will build an aluminium smelter near Inga III, which would benefit from the very competitive energy of the dam (2 to 3 dollar cents per kwh) to process bauxite from Guinea-Conakry.

Inga III and the entire Grand Inga project are increasingly perceived by donors as able to provide considerable services to address the challenges of climate change and deforestation by providing clean energy as a substitute to the more expansive South African coal thermal plants and charcoal - which is currently the main product used for cooking in DRC.

The Congolese authorities do not waste any opportunity to develop interest for the project worldwide. In early June, the Minister of International Cooperation, Raymond Tshibanda asked his Japanese colleague, Fumio Kishida, for a contribution to the funding of Inga III during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which took place in Yokohama.

Fran�ois Misser is a French independent journalist and author of several books on Central Africa including (French only) La saga d'Inga, just published by l'Harmattan (Paris).
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Why the delay in harnessing SA’s latent hydroelectricity?

http://www.iol.co.za/business/features/why-the-delay-in-harnessing-sa-s-latent-hydroelectricity-1.1530225#.Udroz-tQ1YI

Why the delay in harnessing SA�s latent hydroelectricity?

June 11 2013

With the delays and costs of the coal-fired Medupi plant rising, and Eskom imploring us to turn off lights and geysers, South Africa�s dire need for more electric power is impossible to ignore.

Perhaps it is time to investigate more options (excluding for the moment, nuclear power since, for illogical reasons, it seems to scare the pants off the public).

Environmentalists are not all loons. Those who have travelled down the �small is beautiful route� and do not reject technology will embrace fuel cells and photovoltaics. Our government, on the other hand, while seeming to back the Green Agenda, appears to be slow in embracing the potential of water power hidden in the country�s urban and rural water supply systems and perennial rivers.

This potential hydropower was detailed during a technical workshop last year at Pretoria University and again during the Clean Energy conference this year in Cape Town. What the participants presented was very interesting indeed. These highly qualified engineers produced solid scientific evidence of South Africa�s untapped hydro-power potential and offered practical ways of accessing it.

It seems there are no less than 30 sites in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal with the potential for small-scale hydroelectric power. Many are in deep rural areas where the chances are slim of ever getting Eskom power and where lack of electricity makes life grim.

These are areas where children study by candlelight, with schools where teachers cannot use overhead projectors or operate television sets. These are places where vaccines grow stale and useless in the summer; places where clinics can offer only basic health care.

In these parts of South Africa, power tools are useless without expensive petroleum-fuelled generators. Water power could provide sustainable � and in the long run � cheap energy, allowing the growth of small-scale industry such as carpentry, welding, and so on.

All these 30 sites have perennial rivers, streams or springs, all with enough water to power Francis/Pelton or Kaplan-wheel generators; and able, in some cases, to provide electrical power to whole villages.

When the whole of South Africa is considered, the opportunities are even greater. New dams being built or planned could provide water power. Old dams could be adapted to do the same. All that is needed is the political will. We have the engineering skills required.

It is remarkable that this opportunity to provide power cheaply is not given top priority. After all, in similar circumstances elsewhere in the world, notably China and India, mini-hydropower and larger small-scale hydropower, are eagerly exploited whenever possible.

Our government�s avowed target is to achieve 10 gigawatts from renewable energy sources. The plan expects a mere 10 megawatts to come from small-scale hydropower (driven by existing dams and dams yet to be built).

Then here is another potential source of hydroelectricity � the pipes and storage facilities in our cities. If we harness these to a far greater degree, we could add another 250MW to the electricity available.

Despite the national target for hydropower we continue to build new dams with no hydroelectric capacity at all. This is in contrast to China where there are more than 45 000 small hydroelectric plants driven by dams, rivers and large streams. These generate 175 000 gigawatt-hours annually. They supply electrical power to 300 million people. Power output from such systems has doubled in the last 10 years.

By the end of 2011 those employed in China in the small hydro-electric sector numbered 658 000, of whom 150 000 were technical staff. Even scaling that number down for South Africa, there is no doubt job creation for a small-scale hydroelectric programme would be significant.

Water sources in China vary between 2m and 1 000m above the generator. A wide range of dam types are employed � earth, stone masonry, concrete, rock-fill, concrete-face rock-fill, rock-core wall and even rubber.

The Chinese direct water to their small-scale hydroelectric generators in different ways as well � by open channels, aqueducts, all kinds of pipes under various pressures or under no pressure at all, merely using gravity. There are 500 manufacturers of hydro generators in China. Some will even deliver a complete small-scale power station that fits neatly into a ship container, ready to be connected.

In South Africa, we know the potential of hydropower. We have identified new dams and old dams that could have hydroelectric plants attached to them � at a fraction of the cost of coal burning plants and built in considerably less time.

We know that 1MW generated by hydropower will replace 300 tons of fossil fuel. It will also avoid the emission of 3 200 tons of carbon dioxide (a key factor if you believe carbon dioxide is a poison) and prevent 20 tons of sulphur dioxide (which is a poison) reaching the atmosphere. All that while supplying 1 000 urban households with electricity.

Despite this, we are now building four dams without hydroelectric generating capabilities. At the same time, Namibia�s planned Neckartal irrigation dam will generate 1MW.

What is even more difficult to understand is that in the Eastern Cape in particular, dams and weirs (some with hydropower generators, some which have the potential) are being allowed to silt up, making them useless.

Compared with mega coal-burning monsters like Medupi, small-scale hydroelectric systems are cheap � between R10 million and R20m. They also feed power to the grid more quickly, in 18 months to three years. Micro hydropower systems come on stream even faster.

There are even ocean energy sites that are suitable for power generation and together they could add almost 7 250MW to the national grid within the next 10 years, postponing the need for nuclear energy for at least a generation.

Medupi (R33.6 billion) is going to generate 4 800MW, so that�s a potential quarter of what we theoretically could get for a whole lot less. What is holding us up? The usual things: bureaucracy in general. Departmental rivalries. Public objections.

It�s a great pity. As the Chinese experts say: �Small hydropower is the rural renewable energy with the most mature technology, the longest development history and the most rewarding benefits.�

It�s time we listened.

Keith Bryer is a retired communications consultant. He is indebted to Bo Barta of the Sustainable Energy Society for information pertaining to South Africa and Li Zhiwu of the Chinese National Research Institute for Rural Electrification.
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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Power that ruined Uttarakhand

Power that ruined Uttarakhand
Smruti Koppikar , Hindustan Times Mumbai, July 03, 2013
www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Uttarakhand/Power-that-ruined-Uttarakhand/Article1-1086078.aspx

The casual and indiscriminate approach of the expert appraisal committee
of the ministry of environment and forest has come under intense
criticism after the Uttarakhand floods.

A group of 51 environmentalists, scientists, academics and activists
across 15 states — six of them from Uttarakhand — wrote to the ministry
requesting that none of the present 14 members of its committee be
re-nominated. The committee's term is over.

"The current panel has had almost zero-rejection rate for the projects
it considered during its six years, ending December 2012… Secondly, the
committee has been at best inconsistent in applying basic parameters of
environment impact assessment, and has been sanctioning projects that
have been rejected by other government bodies without providing any
reasonable case," stated the letter, dated June 29.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2013/7/03_07_13-metro8b.gif

The 14-member panel has given clearance to 262 river valley projects in
six years till December 2012, many of them without "applying its mind"
to critically appraise the projects and without undertaking a cumulative
impact assessment of a horde of hydropower projects in a river basin,
said the letter.

Only two projects were temporarily rejected till their proponents
changed some parameters to obtain final environmental clearance. A
ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the letter.

The letter has been signed by, among others, noted environmentalists
Vandana Shiva and Bittu Sehgal, former secretaries of government of
India Ramaswamy Iyer and EAS Sarma, lawyer and activist Prashant
Bhushan, professor emeritus of Jawaharlal Nehru University Amit Bhaduri
and Himanshu Thakkar representing South Asia Network of Dams, Rivers and
People, and over 30 individuals/organisations associated with rivers and
dams studies. Bharat Jhunjhunwala, former IIM professor now based in
Tehri, leads the organisations from the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand that
endorsed the letter.

The panel is chaired by technocrat Rakesh Nath with BB Barman of the
MoEF as member-secretary. Nath was chairperson of the Central
Electricity Authority. Vice-chairman BP Das is a former engineer. "Both
have zero track record on environment or climate or societal issues,"
said Thakkar. Before Nath, it was chaired by P Abraham against whom
several environmentalists and organisations had petitioned the ministry
because he was associated with hydropower project companies. "It was a
direct conflict of interest," they pointed out.

In the context of Uttarakhand, the signatories stated, "It was shocking
to see the panel recommending final environmental clearance for the
108MW Jelam-Tamak hydropower project in Chamoli district in Alaknanda
basin… in spite of two government-appointed studies recommending that
the project shouldn't be cleared."

A separate analysis by environmentalists has shown how the panel was not
bothered that "the environment impact assessment reports of projects
that come to it are shoddy, dishonest jobs", was not concerned about the
lack of "credible public consultation process or serious anomalies in
public hearing processes". The panel, the analysis added, had not sought
a cumulative impact assessment even when a large number of bumper to
bumper hydropower projects were proposed on several rivers.

The signatories have demanded that the ministry evolve a code of conduct
for the panel members, that "they should be held accountable for their
actions" and they "should read the environment impact reports and send
it written comments".
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Obama's $7 Billion for African Electricity

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/the-smarter-grid/obamas-7-billion-for-african-electricity


Obama's $7 Billion for African Electricity

By Bill Sweet
Posted 3 Jul 2013


With respect to the US $7 billion U.S. program to help six African countries upgrade their electric power systems, which President Obama announced on Sunday during his trip to Africa, there are two questions that spring immediately to mind: First, though the United States is a very rich country and the presidency is a very powerful position, does Obama actually have the authority to just write a huge $7 billion check to support a cause he happens to like? And second, is a paltry $7 billion enough to really make a difference?

There answer to both questions is No.

First, none of the $7 billion consists of direct grants to African countries, and almost all of it consists of credit and credit guarantees, the biggest single chunk being up to $5 billion in Export-Import Bank export credits. Most of that money will not go to Africans at all, in fact, but to the big U.S. companies that get the work of supplying power plant and grid equipment to the Africans, starting with General Electric. None of that will be any surprise to students of the "give and take" of what goes by the name of international aid, which often involves more taking than giving.

Tellingly, perhaps, the White House fact sheet describing the $7 billion program twice refers to "new discoveries of vast reserves of oil and gas" in Africa, despite the apparent lack on any real connection between those discoveries and the program.

Second, $7 billion is not really very much money when one's talking about Africa, African electricity needs, or electric power in general. Two thirds of Africans lack grid access, and the total cost of getting them all on the grid often is estimated at $300 billion, according to the White House. "When it comes to building power plants, $7 billion isn't a lot of money," notes a reporter for Forbes. "In Tanzania [for example], Japanese banks are financing a $414 million Sumitomo-built 240 [megawatt] gas-fired plant. While in Ghana the Chinese are building a 400 [MW] hydropower plant for more than $600 million." So, even if Obama were actually giving six African countries $7 billion outright, it could get used up pretty quickly without making much of a dent in the larger problem.

And then there's the painful truth that much of what ends up getting spent will be spent unwisely, or arguably so. To take just one category of new generation, large dams, serious questions are being raised about some of the big ones on the drawing boards or already under construction. Science writer Fred Pearce describes some of the biggest African hydropower projects in an article just posted on the Yale.360 website, among them:

� the 6000-MW Grand Renaissance dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile near the Sudanese boarder, which may threaten Egyptian water supplies and aggravate geopolitical tensions
� dam projects totaling 13 000-MW along the Zambezi River (the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe), despite an anticipated 10-15 percent decrease in rainfall in its catchment area, because of global warming
� and, biggest of all, the series of flow-by dams being planned for the Congo, which could have a final capacity twice that of China's Three Gorges and, initially, send most of its output to South Africa, 3000 kilometers away.

Is it really a good idea to be planning a giant project in the world's most tragically messed up place, which will require power to be transmitted over immense distances through other difficult areas? Perhaps the best that can be said for Obama's Power Africa initiative is that the president is thinking small, really small.
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Monday, July 1, 2013

Key hydro-power projects hit, grid not disturbed

Key hydro-power projects hit, grid not disturbed
The Indian Express
Anil Sasi : New Delhi, Wed Jun 26 2013
www.indianexpress.com/news/key-hydropower-projects-hit-grid-not-disturbed/1133932/

The presence of excessive silt, boulders and floating debris in the
upper reaches of rivers in flood-hit Uttarakhand has forced at least six
key hydro-power projects in the state to curtail or completely shut down
electricity generation to prevent equipment damage.

The NHPC's 280-MW Dhauliganga station and Jaiprakash Power Ventures'
400-MW Vishnuprayag plant are among the worst affected.

According to latest Central Electricity Authority data, updated until
June 20, a total of 14 units of four hydro-power stations in the hill
state were completely shut due to flood-related issues. Of these, two
units of UJVNL's 144-MW Chilla power station were shut due to "high silt
and floods in intake" while units of the state's 41-MW Khatima power
plant were down due to flooding of the power house.

NHPC's Tanakpur station was also reported to be down due to "high silt
and floods in intake".

Besides, projects under construction on the Mandakini river in
Rudraprayag district, including L&T Hydro's 99-MW Singholi Bhatwari
project, have reportedly suffered some structural damage. Two mini hydel
projects of state-run Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL) — the
6-MW Kaliganga-I and 4-MW Kaliganga-II — have been hit due to mudslides
while five other projects run by the state, including the 90-MW Maneri
Bhali-I and the 304-MW Maneri Bhali-II, are among those shut down as a
preventive measure.

Uttarakhand's total installed capacity is 2,560 MW, comprising entirely
of hydroelectric stations and includes mini and micro hydel plants.
Power ministry officials said given the size of the integrated NEW
(north-east-west-northeastern) grid, the sudden outages of hydro units
in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have not affected overall grid
stability.

Although the extent of damage at Dhauliganga and Vishnuprayag due to
vital systems being submerged is still being ascertained, both stations
are covered by industrial risk insurance policies.

NHPC officials said that due to the unprecedented floods, water had
inundated its Dhauliganga station and submerged all systems in the early
hours of June 17 and the severity of the damage is being assessed.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures has said the heavy rains in Chamoli district,
where its Vishnuprayag plant is located, excessive silt, boulders and
other material in the Alaknanda river have affected river protection
work and led to a shutdown of the barrage operations and power
generation from June 16.

"Assessment of damages will be made after access to the site becomes
possible...The unprecedented floods has led to 'force majeure' event for
400-MW Vishnuprayag project,'' the company said.
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