 Reports by Probe International |
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Electricity of Vietnam urged to rethink hydro operations on Mekong tributary
March 26, 2008
This environmental impact assessment review by Probe International and Phnom Penh-based NGO Forum on Cambodia recommends that Electricity of Vietnam consider switching from peaking to base load operations at its upper Se San hydro dams to ease impacts in downstream Cambodia.
Additional recommendations, photos, and statements from affected community leaders in Cambodia included.
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Development schemes displace Laotian farmers: Canadian study
January 15, 2008
The Lao government's ambition to become one of Southeast Asia's biggest exporters of hydropower and wood chips is hurting the country's small farmers and driving young people to neighbouring Thailand in search of better prospects, a recent Canadian-led study has found. "If things continue the way they are going in this village, all the young people will have gone to Thailand. Only the older people will remain," says a resident of Pak Veng, one of nearly 60 communities adversely affected by dam construction and the conversion of forests to industrial tree plantations in central Laos.
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Aiding or abetting? Internal resettlement and international aid agencies in the Lao PDR
August 25, 2005
Over the last decade, tens of thousands of ethnic minority people in Lao PDR have been resettled from the remote highlands to lowland areas and near major roads. International aid agencies have supported this internal resettlement.
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International Symposium on Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management
March 10, 2005
Applying BC Hydro water use planning experience in the transboundary Se San River Basin.
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Small Power Producers in Thailand
March 01, 2005
Thailand's little-known yet multi-national sector of small power producers could potentially compete with conventional large-scale hydro dams and thermal plants but development has been blocked by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
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The Greater Mekong subregion hydro grid
December 01, 2004
A review of the Asian Development Bank's 2003 Indicative Master Plan for Regional Power Interconnections and Power Trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion and whether the ADB Master Plan serves the interests of GMS power consumers.
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PI Submission to World Bank Nam Theun 2 Workshop
September 10, 2004
Based on Probe International's review of all available information, World Bank and Asian Development Bank funding for the Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric project would constitute foreign aid abuse.
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World Bank-backed hydro venture threatens thousands of poor Laotian farmers
September 01, 2004
Thousands of Laotian farmers have been promised new livelihoods to make way for a World Bank-backed hydro dam in one of Asia's poorest countries. But a review of the developers' resettlement plans indicates a high risk of failure.
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World Bank dam poses huge risk to Laotian farmers
August 23, 2004
If Nam Theun 2 is built, the developers themselves predict "a collapse in the aquatic food chain," along the Xe Bangfai, a large Mekong tributary in central Laos. This would affect more than 40,000 people.
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Ten reasons not to finance the Nam Theun 2 dam (PDF format)
June 25, 2004
Proponents have failed to demonstrate Nam Theun 2's economic viability.
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Managing river conflict: a Canadian model
January 15, 2004
The Mekong River Commission's new chief should make mobilizing an approach for balancing power production with public demands for improved river health and greater control a top priority in 2004.
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Behind the ASEAN Power Grid (PDF format)
December 19, 2003
Analysis of the Asian Development Bank's Master Plan for Regional Power Interconnections and Power Trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
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Are large hydro dams competitive?
January 28, 2003
Workshop on the Changing Face of Electricity Markets in the Mekong River Basin hosted by WWF Indochina and the Mekong River Commission Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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Ending Vietnam's hydro threat to Cambodia's Mekong tributaries (PDF format)
November 30, 2002
The loss of lives and uncompensated damage to property, riverside crops, and fish catches, is the tragic outcome of a deliberate and economically flawed hydro development strategy.
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Mock Accountability: A Review of the Asian Development Bank's Inspection Function
July 30, 2002
Probe's submission provides a public record of why the ADB's inspection of Thailand's Samut Prakarn Wastewater Treatment Project has failed to deliver the level of accountability and justice demanded by affected communities.
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Master plan envisions multi-billion-dollar expansion of Vietnam's electricity monopoly
December 12, 2001
Mekong backgrounder: a review of Vietnam's power sector
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Government Secrecy Threatens Canadian Democracy
June 01, 2001
Probe International argues that the Canadian government's growing predilection for secrecy is alarming. Probe recommends that the disclosure of information on public interest grounds should prevail over corporate interests.
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Theun-Hinboun: An assessment of early project performance
March 01, 2001
The Lao PDR came online in 1998. The financial performance of this project from the Lao government perspective is quite good, but it has created as yet unmitigated social and environmental damages.
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A review of the Se San 3 hydropower project feasibility study
October 16, 2000
In February 1999 SWECO delivered to the electric utility of Vietnam a report entitled "Feasibility Study on Se San 3 Hydropower Project, Final Report." The study overstates the value of Se San 3 by disregarding the concept of firm power.
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Benefit cost analysis of decommissioning the Pak Mun Dam
June 01, 2000
The Pak Mun Dam has emerged as a critical challenge to the assumed premium of dam development over preservation of an existing river ecology. This report compares the economics of continuing to operate the dam, versus the benefit of decommissioning.
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Aid agencies should get out of dam building
May 12, 2000
Grainne Ryder attended the final consultation of the World Commission on Dams in Vietnam earlier this year.
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Why consumers and citizens should pull the plug on the Asian Development Bank- part 1 of 2
May 03, 2000
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Why consumers and citizens should pull the plug on the Asian Development Bank- part 2 of 2
May 03, 2000
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Peddling yesterday's technology: Aid for large hydro dams must be stopped
February 27, 2000
The mandate of the World Commission on Dams is to review the effectiveness of big dams and to set new international guidelines for dam building. In the real world of electricity generation today, big dams are yesterday's technology.
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The Three Gorges Dam: A great leap backward for China's electricity consumers and economy
December 16, 1999
The tragedy of the Three Gorges dam goes beyond the nearly two million people who will be moved from their homes, villages, farms, temples, and work places to make way for it.
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The Theun-Hinboun public-private partnership
October 01, 1999
A critique of the Asian Development Bank's model hydropower venture in Lao PDR: Before the Theun-Hinboun dam had generated a kilowatt of electricity, its promoters had declared it a model for future hydro development in the six-country Mekong region.
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Thailand's flawed electricity privatization: The case for citizen-oriented reform
June 01, 1999
This report examines trends in the global electricity supply industry, the problems with partial privatization of Thailand's electricity sector, and ensuring that further electricity privatization works for all citizens, the environment, and the economy.
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What Thai citizens should know about Canada's
nuclear power program
February 01, 1999
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited wants to sell a CANDU reactor to Thailand. They have produced, along with the Canadian International Development Agency, a set of pro-nuclear videos and booklets in the Thai language to which this briefing responds.
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Submission to the Export Development Act Review
December 21, 1998
Patronage Canada: Submitted to Gowling, Strathy & Henderson. The Export Development Corporation is unnecessary, costly, and unaccountable. It misleads the Canadian public and is an environmental wrecker. This patronage agency should be shut down.
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Reforming Thailand's power sector: Towards a sustainable electricity future
November 01, 1997
This report looks at the impact of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)'s partial privatization to date and suggests further reform to build a sustainable electricity system.
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The advantages of combined cycle plants: A 'new generation' technology
November 01, 1997
Technological advances now make it possible to generate electricity on a small scale at the same, or lower, cost than that produced from very large, centrally managed power stations. Of particular interest are the advances in cogeneration.
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Vattenfall abroad: Damming the Theun river
January 01, 1997
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The rise and fall of EGAT: From monopoly to marketplace?
November 01, 1996
Mekong governments have pinned their national economic futures on multimillion dollar exports of hydroelectricity to serve Thailand's surging demand for electricity.
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Economic Critique of Nam Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Project and Electricity Development in Laos: Propo
June 05, 1996
This report was prepared at the request of Probe International. The purpose of the report is to address the process of electricity development in Laos and to propose an alternative approach.
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