The Zambezi be dammed!

(Note the columnists' call for "A national campaign to stop Eskom from
buying hydroelectric power from Mphanda Nkuwa." Any South Africans out
there who want to get this off the ground??)

http://www.news24.com/Columnists/AndreasSpath/The-Zambezi-be-dammed-20101103

The Zambezi be dammed!

2010-11-03 07:50
by Andreas Sp�th

Eskom makes all of us energy colonialists. By buying electricity from
a new hydroelectric dam in Mozambique it will continue to contribute
to social and environmental degradation in one of the world�s poorest
countries.

In August, the government of Mozambique officially approved the
construction of the Mphanda Nkuwa Dam which is to be built in the
Zambezi River about 60km downstream from the existing Cahora Bassa
Dam. The project is expected to cost between $2bn and $3.5bn and
deliver 1 500MW of electricity with the potential of being expanded to
2 400MW.

Construction, led by a consortium of Mozambican and Brazilian
interests, is slated to start in 2011 and take five to six years to
complete. As early as January the Mozambican newspaper Not�cias
reported that negotiations of long-term power purchase agreements with
Eskom were expected to be concluded this year.

�So what�s wrong with that?� you ask. �Isn�t this sort of thing going
to help Mozambique develop?�

Indeed, proponents of the new dam claim that it will attract energy-
intensive industries to the country, but in reality, Eskom and power
hungry South Africa are expected to consume some 90% of the
electricity generated.

Devastating impacts

Only about 5% of Mozambicans currently have access to electricity and
half of those live in Maputo. The impoverished rural majority, much in
need of electricity, will not see any of the power produced by the new
dam.

Contrary to popular belief, large hydroelectric dams frequently have
devastating social and environmental impacts on rivers and the people
and ecosystems that depend on them. In the case of Mphanda Nkuwa, more
than 1 400 people are expected to be displaced by the dam and its
associated infrastructure and social and environmental justice
activists estimate that it threatens to compromise the livelihood of
100 000 to 200 000 subsistence farmers and fishers living downstream.

In order to cater for periods of peak electricity demand in South
Africa, the turbines in the dam will be required to operate
intermittently, resulting in mini-floods twice a day and fluctuations
in river level of 0.5 to 2.8 metres the effects of which will be felt
hundreds of kilometres downstream.

Rising flood waters will erode some of the most productive farmlands
and riverbank gardens on which locals depend for their food security.
The mini-floods will also threaten downstream sandbanks and other
important habitats for various bird, invertebrate and fish species.

The electricity generated by large hydroelectric dams isn�t even
carbon neutral. Accumulating rotting organic matter which would
normally be flushed downriver continuously causes the emission of
significant quantities of greenhouse gasses.

Neither is it renewable since the reservoirs tend to gradually fill up
with sediment, depriving the river and its floodplains of nutrients
while steadily reducing the dam�s capacity. What�s more, scientists
predict that lower precipitation due to climate change will lead to
reduced flow rates of the Zambezi, threatening the long-term viability
of the project.

Old news

All of this is old news. The UN has described the 2075MW Cahora Bassa
Dam, built in 1974, as one of the most destructive major projects in
Africa. Running at a financial loss, Cahora Bassa has caused reduced
fertility and massive erosion downstream, led to the drying up of the
Zambezi Delta, one of the continent�s most important wetlands, and
contributed to a 60% decline in the important local prawn industry
between 1978 and 1995.

Efforts to restore the disrupted ecosystems of the lower Zambezi by
changing the water release patterns from Cahora Bassa to mimic natural
river flows more closely will be made difficult by the construction of
Mphanda Nkuwa. Yet the Mozambican government approved the dam before
the environmental impact assessment has even been completed, stating
that it would have no identifiable impact of the Zambezi Delta or
local fisheries.

So what�s to be done? A national campaign to stop Eskom from buying
hydroelectric power from Mphanda Nkuwa would be a good start. Without
that, the project is dead in the water, financially speaking. Anabela
Lemos, the director of the Maputo-based NGO Justicia Ambiental sums up
the real distribution of benefits with candour: �Clean, decentralized
energy for all should be the top priority, not damming the Zambezi to
support energy-hogging industry and cities in South Africa.�

- Andreas has a PhD in geochemistry and manages Lobby Books, the
independent book shop at Idasa�s Cape Town Democracy Centre. Follow
him on Twitter: @Andreas_Spath

Send your comments to Andreas

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of
diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are
therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of
News24.
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Sinohydro, AES, CIC In Talks On Panama Hydro Project

Sinohydro, AES, CIC In Talks On Panama Hydro Project

http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/201011020127DOWJONESDJONLINE000045_univ.xml

Sources: 11-2-10 1:27 AM EDT

BEIJING - (Dow Jones) - China's largest hydropower station builder
Sinohydro Corp. is in talks with U.S. power company AES Corp. (AES) and
sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. on a new hydroelectric
power project in Panama, two persons familiar with the matter said.

The move is significant as China is trying to woo several Latin American
states Like Panama, which still back Taiwan and don't have formal
diplomatic ties with Beijing.

It also marks the latest move by state-owned Chinese companies to
capture a slice of Latin America's growing electricity market, after
years of focusing more on hydroelectric dam and power grid construction
in Africa and Asia. Sinohydro is expanding rapidly in the region as it
firms up plans for an initial public offering.

The proposed hydropower project will likely have generation capacity of
150- 200 megawatts, said one of the persons, who declined to be named.

Cooperation will involve project financing and construction, the person
added. He didn't specify the likely investment involved, or the location
of the plant.

The negotiations began after China Investment Corp. took a 15% stake in
AES Corp. for $1.58 billion earlier this year, another person said.

Virginia-based AES Corp. owns 49% of AES Panama, which is Panama's
largest power generator by installed capacity.

AES Panama owns four hydroelectric plants with installed capacity of 482
MW. These comprise generating units with capacity totaling 260 MW in
Bayano, 120 MW in Esti, 47.2 MW in La Estrella and 54.8 MW in Los
Valles, the company said in a statement on its website.

AES Corp. is also building the Changuinola I hydroelectric project with
generating capacity of up to 223 MW, and plans to start commercial
operations in the first half of next year, local financial magazine
Martes Financiero reported earlier.

Panama will invest nearly $4 billion in energy projects through 2014,
with $ 1.73 billion earmarked for hydroelectric projects, according to a
report from local newspaper Panama America.

Panama is China's sixth-largest trading partner in Latin America. China
exported products worth $6.5 billion to Panama last year, up 17.4%,
according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

-Wan Xu contributed to this article; Dow Jones Newswires; 8610-84007799;
wan.xu@dowjones.com
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China finds New Role in Assisting Developing Countries

(from the website of the American Friends Service Committee,
http://afsc.org/story/afsc-support-china-finds-new-role-assisting-developing-countries)

With AFSC Support, China finds New Role in Assisting Developing Countries

From September 13 – 18, 2010 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with the
sponsorship and support of the AFSC, China implemented its first
overseas training in environmental protection. The forty participants
included top officials and environmental officers from the Cambodian
Ministry of Environment, government officials from line Ministries,
environmental consultants, and NGO representatives.

Why a Training in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?

In Cambodia, foreign investment has polluted and destroyed rivers, lakes
and forest resources. It has ruined livelihoods, taken away access to
land and resources, often without compensation to local communities. As
investment activities have grown, violent conflict has erupted between
indigenous people and investment project holders, generating
catastrophic losses on both sides. Although China now is the primary
source of foreign direct investment in Cambodia, often policy advisors,
policy makers (and even project holders in China) are not aware of
governance issues, local concerns or of the violence that has occurred.

China already has developed an advanced framework in EIA, which it
regularly uses to stop abusive projects and to penalize companies that
violate standards. The Chinese Appraisal Center for Environment and
Engineering (ACEE) operates under China's Ministry of Environmental
Protection (MEP) and provides training, drafts laws, and provides
advisory reports on environmental issues. ACEE has played a very
important role in the development and advancement of this framework.

In late 2009, the Cambodian Ministry of Environment asked AFSC for
assistance in building environmental impact assessment as a means of
tackling environmental problems. Following this request, the Northeast
Asia Quaker International Affairs Representative, Jason Tower,
approached ACEE to see whether they might have an interest in advancing
an EIA framework in Cambodia.

China Assists a Neighbor

While China is already a major source of overseas developmental
assistance (ODA), it has traditionally focused on building
infrastructure and roads, and less on developing local capacity. Seeing
China's role as the top investor in a country without standards or
guidelines for EIA, ACEE expressed a strong interest in providing
assistance in this area. In collaboration with the NEA QIAR program and
AFSC staff in Cambodia, the ACEE sent two EIA experts to Cambodia in May
2010 to conduct a needs assessment.
With a clear sense of the role that they could play in preventing future
conflicts over environment and resources in Cambodia, ACEE planned a
week-long training program for the Cambodian Ministry and local NGOs. A
team of seven experts from ACEE then spent the next three months
preparing a training manual and other course materials.

With AFSC's support, the September training course was held in Cambodia
and was a tremendous learning experience for Cambodians. Hearing from
Cambodians about their lack of capacity in impact assessment, the sheer
number of destructive projects being implemented, and about China's role
as the number one investor in the country, the Chinese trainers gained a
sense of ownership in the project.

Before leaving, the ranking member of ACEE, Liu Weisheng ,told senior
Cambodian government officials that upon returning to China, he would
advise the Chinese government to provide Cambodia with technical
assistance in developing a stronger EIA framework. Mr. Liu also relayed
his suggestion to the Chinese media. The Southern Weekend, which
Chinese and international observers often compare to the New York Times,
ran a story on the training activity under the headline Chinese
Trainers, Cambodian Students on October 7, 2010. AFSC's translation of
this article is available here.

ACEE told AFSC staff that its involvement in this activity has
demonstrated to the Chinese MEP and the Chinese government an important
role that it can play in developing capacity to prevent environmental
damage in poor countries, and especially in countries where China is a
major investor.

Related Documents: Chinese Trainers, Cambodian Students (English
Translation), see
http://afsc.org/document/chinese-trainers-cambodian-students-english-translation
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Chinese dam builders triggering local backlash

Chinese dam builders triggering local backlash
By Michael Richardson, FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
Nov 1, 2010

FOR most of the 20th century, Western companies played a key role in building hydropower dams in China to generate electricity and improve flood control, irrigation and river navigation.

Leading European and US hydropower companies agreed to technology transfer terms set by Beijing in the 1990s. Today, they may regret giving China a helping hand.

China is the the world's biggest producer of hydropower, with over half the large dams. Its companies are now building nearly 220 dams in about 50 countries, including 19 of 24 largest projects in Asia, Africa and South America.

In fact, just a handful of Chinese firms, all state-owned, now dominate the global hydropower market. One company alone, Sinohydro, has a 50 per cent share of the business.

These firms use low-cost loans from Chinese banks and capital raised from partial listings on the stock exchanges of China and Hong Kong to fund expansion abroad and underbid their former Western collaborators. Chinese nuclear power, high-speed rail and aerospace companies aim to replicate this expansion model.

The dam builders are at the forefront of another significant trend: the rapid rise of Chinese construction, engineering and design firms in building infrastructure in the developing world. Construction contributes over 10 per cent of world GDP and China now accounts for one-sixth of all activity.

In 1989, the international revenues of China-based contractors were less than US$3 billion. Twenty years later, contracted project revenue had reached nearly US$60 billion (S$78 billion) in Asia alone.

Just last week, China Development Bank said it would lend more than US$11 billion over the next five years to the Three Gorges dam developer for power projects in China and abroad.

Another leading Chinese energy company, China Huadian Corp, officially opened a 180 megawatt hydropower plant in August at Asahan, in Indonesia's North Sumatra province. In Cambodia, Chinese hydropower firms are heavily involved in the Cambodian government's plan to increase power generation tenfold in the next decade.

China's dam-building is widely welcomed by governments of developing countries that want renewable energy at affordable cost instead of power from fossil fuels that cause pollution and global warming emissions.

But China sometimes undertakes projects that Western firms and international development banks will not support because of social and environmental concerns. Big hydro projects can displace large numbers of people and disrupt the livelihoods of many others.

In September, a group of NGOs said that more than 20 big dams were being built or planned in Myanmar by local, Chinese and Thai investors without consulting local communities, many of them minorities in conflict with the central government. These dams would 'exacerbate conflict, cause forced displacement and threaten biodiversity', the NGOs said.

Meanwhile, China has completed four dams in Yunnan province on the upper reaches of the Mekong, South-east Asia's longest river. It intends to build four more despite concerns among downstream countries that their own development plans for the river will be affected.

Three of the four downstream states - Laos, Cambodia and Thailand - want to construct 12 dams on their section of the Mekong. If all go ahead, they would generate a massive 13,500 megawatts of electricity but disrupt migratory fisheries and have an adverse impact on over one million people, many of them poor farmers. Vietnam, the fourth downstream state, fears it would suffer if the dams higher up the river in South-east Asia are built.

As a result, a recent report for the Mekong River Commission (MRC) recommended a 10-year deferral of any mainstream hydropower development and the World Bank said it would not finance any of the projects.

Chinese companies are involved in many of these ventures. Will they and other promoters heed the expert advice? Although China is not an MRC member, it is 'increasingly recognising the mutual benefits of adopting a more open approach to the trans-boundary management of water resources' in the Mekong River basin, according to MRC chief executive Jeremy Bird.

Mr Peter Bossard, policy director of the International Rivers NGO, says that destructive dams, mining and logging operations have triggered a backlash against Chinese investors in many countries.

However, he is optimistic the tide can be turned because the Chinese government has realised that social and environmental sustainability is in its long-term self-interest and is now urging Chinese firms to follow stricter standards abroad.

The writer is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies.

Sinohydro Group boosts African stakes

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90778/90860/7172393.html

Sinohydro Group boosts African stakes
08:03, October 21, 2010

Sinohydro Group, a leading State-owned group in hydropower
construction, will increase its investments in Africa, said a senior
company official.

"We are conducting a series of projects in some African countries,
including a copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, and two hydropower stations, one in Mozambique, and the other
in Zambia. We are also looking closely at investment opportunities in
Liberia," said Ding Zhengguo, assistant president in charge of
overseas projects for Sinohydro Group, on Tuesday.

The actual amount of investment involved is still uncertain and will
depend on specific stages of negotiation, because some African
countries have yet to establish a sound legal framework to support
investments, he added.

More Chinese investments are flowing into Africa as the continent
emerges as one of the most important outbound direct investment (ODI)
destinations.

In 2009 alone, China's ODI in Africa shot up to $1.44 billion, a rise
of 55.4 percent year-on-year, official figures showed.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce released an annual report on
China-Africa trade and economic relationships, saying Chinese
companies are expected to tap into many new sectors, including mining,
financing, aviation and tourism.

The number of Chinese companies operating in Africa exceeds 2,000 and
is expected to increase, said the ministry.

On the other hand, poor infrastructure and a lack of adequate market
mechanisms in some African countries have prompted concerns among
Chinese businesses about the continent's investment environment,
according to Cao Zhongming, deputy director-general of the African
affairs department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

However, he was optimistic about the future for Chinese businesses in
African markets.

"China and Africa are highly complementary in investment. In the long
term, the African market will have a bright future," he said.

The return on investments by Chinese companies in Africa is between 24
and 30 percent, compared to a rate of between 16 and 18 percent in
developing countries as a whole, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign direct investment volume in Africa has registered rapid growth
over the last six years, jumping from $18 billion in 2004 to $36
billion in 2006.

It peaked at $88 billion in 2008, before falling back to $59 billion
in 2009 as the international financial crisis worsened, according to
official figures.

The World Bank estimates that African countries will need to invest a
total of $93 billion per annum on infrastructure, but says they can
currently only manage $45 billion.

Source: China Daily
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Ethiopia: Power sector faces uncertainty

Below is an excerpt from "Ethiopia: Power sector faces uncertainty"
Thursday 28 October 2010 / by Desalegn Sisay

Read the entire article at http://www.afrik-news.com/article18409.html

"The recently inaugurated Gilgel Gibe II Hydro Power Plant with a
capacity of 420 megawatt has been nonoperational following its collapse
shortly after its inauguration. One of the effective power stations,
Gilgel Gibe I is only producing half of its total 180 megawatt capacity,
due to a transformer collapse. Tekeze Hydro Power Plant, another new
power station with a 300 megawatt capacity and is generating only about
70 megawatt.

Meanwhile, Tana Belese, the biggest hydro power station in Ethiopia,
with a 460 megawatt capacity, has been fully operational. But as its 400
kilovolt transmission installation work from Bahir Dar to the central
part of the country has not been finalized, power supply from Tana is
transmitted on limited kilovolt transmission lines and has a high
wastage, sources at the EEPCo have revealed.

Last week, October 21, 2010 EEPCo sent an official letter to factories
to halt their production between 6 and 10 pm to avoid power outages
during peak hours. Nonetheless, most residents continue to experience
power cuts without any prior notice on daily basis."
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Omo-Turkana climate crisis

When The Water Ends: Africa's Climate Conflicts
(article and 16 min video)
Yale Environment 360
October 27, 2010
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/when_the_water_ends_africas_climate_conflicts/2331/

For thousands of years, nomadic herdsmen have roamed the harsh,
semi-arid lowlands that stretch across 80 percent of Kenya and 60
percent of Ethiopia. Descendants of the oldest tribal societies in the
world, they survive thanks to the animals they raise and the crops they
grow, their travels determined by the search for water and grazing lands.

These herdsmen have long been accustomed to adapting to a changing
environment. But in recent years, they have faced challenges unlike any
in living memory: As temperatures in the region have risen and water
supplies have dwindled, the pastoralists have had to range more widely
in search of suitable water and land. That search has brought tribal
groups in Ethiopia and Kenya in increasing conflict, as pastoral
communities kill each other over water and grass.

"When the Water Ends," a 16-minute video produced by Yale Environment
360 in collaboration with MediaStorm, tells the story of this conflict
and of the increasingly dire drought conditions facing parts of East
Africa. To report this video, Evan Abramson, a 32-year-old photographer
and videographer, spent two months in the region early this year, living
among the herding communities. He returned with a tale that many climate
scientists say will be increasingly common in the 21st century and
beyond — how worsening drought in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and
elsewhere will pit group against group, nation against nation. As one UN
official told Abramson, the clashes between Kenyan and Ethiopian
pastoralists represent "some of the world's first climate-change conflicts."

But the story recounted in "When the Water Ends" is not only about
climate change. It's also about how deforestation and land degradation —
due in large part to population pressures — are exacting a toll on
impoverished farmers and nomads as the earth grows ever more barren.

The video focuses on four groups of pastoralists — the Turkana of Kenya
and the Dassanech, Nyangatom, and Mursi of Ethiopia — who are among the
more than two dozen tribes whose lives and culture depend on the waters
of the Omo River and the body of water into which it flows, Lake
Turkana. For the past 40 years at least, Lake Turkana has steadily
shrunk because of increased evaporation from higher temperatures and a
steady reduction in the flow of the Omo due to less rainfall, increased
diversion of water for irrigation, and upstream dam projects. As the
lake has diminished, it has disappeared altogether from Ethiopian
territory and retreated south into Kenya. The Dassanech people have
followed the water, and in doing so have come into direct conflict with
the Turkana of Kenya.

The result has been cross-border raids in which members of both groups
kill each other, raid livestock, and torch huts. Many people in both
tribes have been left without their traditional livelihoods and survive
thanks to food aid from nonprofit organizations and the UN.

The future for the tribes of the Omo-Turkana basin looks bleak.
Temperatures in the region have risen by about 2 degrees F since 1960.
Droughts are occurring with a frequency and intensity not seen in recent
memory. Areas once prone to drought every ten or eleven years are now
experiencing a drought every two or three. Scientists say temperatures
could well rise an additional 2 to 5 degrees F by 2060, which will
almost certainly lead to even drier conditions in large parts of East
Africa.

In addition, the Ethiopian government is building a dam on the upper Omo
River — the largest hydropower project in sub-Saharan Africa — that will
hold back water and prevent the river's annual flood cycles, upon which
more than 500,000 tribesmen in Ethiopia and 300,000 in Kenya depend for
cultivation, grazing, and fishing.

The herdsmen who speak in this video are caught up in forces over which
they have no real control. Although they have done almost nothing to
generate the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, they
may already be among its first casualties. "I am really beaten by
hunger," says one elderly, rail-thin Nyangatom tribesman. "There is
famine — people are dying here. This happened since the Turkana and the
Kenyans started fighting with us. We fight over grazing lands. There is
no peace at all."

Watch the video
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