Proposed major dams on the Salween River
The available information on height, flood area, cost and megawatt capacity of the proposed dams varies according to the source and date of study. Final specifications also may vary as a result of changes during the planning processes.
Energy Minister Viset Choopiban signed an agreement on May 30, 2005 with the Burmese Ministry of Electric Power to conduct a feasibility study on the multi-billion-baht venture on the Salween River. Minister Viset said a total of five hydropower dams can be built on the river with a combined capacity of 15,000 Megawatts. The four proposed dam sites are:
1. Hutgyi dam:
- Although previously this dam site was seldom mentioned, it is now expected to be the first dam of the series to be constructed, as Egat has signed the Memorandum of Agreement with its Burmese counterpart last year. It will be located 33 km downstream from the Salween-Moei River confluence.
A 1999 pre-feasibility study by the Japanese development consultant NEWJEC recommended "a low height, run-of-river dam having a capacity of 300 MW." However, the Thai energy minister on November 14, 2005, citing a new feasibility study, said "electricity production could be increased to 1,200 megawatts." Since this is four times higher than the first study, this indicates a substantially higher dam, and therefore a larger reservoir.
Significant areas in both Karen State and Thailand may be flooded by the dam, including part of the Kahilu Wildlife Sanctuary in Karen State. In addition, flooding the border would cede Thai territory to Burma due to old agreements setting the border at the Thai waters' edge.
It is also important to mention that with a larger reservoir the Thai authorities will be able to more easily divert floodwaters from the Salween River into a dam on the Yuam River at Mae Lama Luang, which is already at an advanced stage of planning. Water from the Mae Lama Luang dam can then be diverted through a tunnel into the Bhumipol Dam in central Thailand.
2. Tasang dam:
- The largest of the Salween River dams, it is to be located in an area of active and persistent conflict in south central Shan State, from which some 300,000 people have been forcibly relocated since the dam studies began (around 1996-98). The 7,110-megawatt, 228 meter high Tasang Dam, if built, would be the highest in Southeast Asia. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the dam is reportedly underway now but incomplete. Such a study should have been part of the pre-feasibility or feasibility study on which decisions were based on whether or not to go ahead with the project. The detailed design study, which is usually not started until the project has already been approved, is already underway.
3. Weigyi (Upper Salween) dam:
- Located on the Thai border close to where the Salween River flows out of Karenni (Kayah) State in Burma, the site is favoured by Thailand as it should be able to exercise greater control over construction, expenditures and operational management.
The SPDC has done notably little in the way of study or development of the site. The site on the Thai side is situated in the Salween Wildlife Sanctuary, while an access road under construction leading to the dam site passes through the adjacent Salween National Park, both of which have already been illegally logged.
Original specifications are for a 4,540-megawatt dam with a flood height of 220 meters.
4. Dagwin (Lower Salween) dam:
- This site is located on the border south of the Weigyi site and to the west of Mae Sariang town in Thailand. With projected capacity variously given as 500, 792 or 900 megawatts, the dam would produce electricity but would mainly serve to trap and regulate large amounts of water released by the Weigyi dam during peak hours.
It would use off-peak power to pump water back up into the upper dam. The estimated US$900 million cost and the fact that it has no practical water diversion route make this dam exceptionally impractical. The site is located near Tha Ta Fang village.
Sources: Salween Watch, Southeast Asia River Network, Karen River Watch and Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.