Laos and Myanmar are mulling an electricity agreement to empower Laos’ development needs, local daily Vientiane Times quoted a senior Lao official as saying on Tuesday.

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The post Laos to sell electricity to Myanmar: official first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Water management in the Mekong region is, in practice, dominated by energy objectives. In Cambodia, the priority is to substitute domestically produced hydropower for expensive diesel and electricity imports. In Laos, the priority is to generate revenue by drawing in foreign investment in dams and export excess electricity to its neighbors, with Thailand as its biggest market. In Viet Nam, which has already built out most of its hydropower potential, the priority is to meet a projected tripling in energy demand by 2030 while protecting the economically vital Mekong Delta from the impacts of upstream dams.

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The post Solar, wind may boost Mekong region energy first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Climate change, drought, and development have devastated Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, which feeds millions across Southeast Asia

[…]Governments along the Mekong insist dams are necessary to supply electricity to growing populations and industries. The costs are steep. One model, carried out by a team from Stanford and Princeton universities and several researchers in Cambodia, predicted a 51 percent decline in fish production in the Lower Mekong Basin should all proposed dams go ahead. At the moment, China has seven dams on the upper Mekong; Laos has three in the works. In total, 11 large main-stem dams are planned in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand; another 21 are planned in China.

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The post When There Are No More Fish first appeared on Open Development Mekong.