VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has tapped over 90% of the hydropower potential for economic development, which has left adverse impacts on the people’s livelihood, especially in terms of deforestation and safety, said a commission of the National Assembly.

The NA Commission on Science, Technology and Environment observed that many problems regarding hydropower development are difficult to address, including planning and water resources. The remarks were given on Wednesday in response to a report by the Government on hydropower submitted to the National Assembly on the same day.

In its report, the Government states that after reviewing hydropower development, authorities have scrapped 418 small-scale projects and six others for low efficiency, but there are still 815 valid projects in the country with total designed output of over 24,300MW.

Of the valid projects, 268 projects have been operational with a combined output of 14,240MW, while 205 others with total output of nearly 6,200MW will be commissioned between now and 2017.

In its appraisal report, the NA commission pinpointed overheated hydropower development, with many petty projects having been licensed though their efficiency is low.

The number of small projects is high, but their contribution to the country’s power supply is limited. As such 34% of such projects have been eliminated from the master plan on hydropower development, according to the commission.

Nearly 90% of the projects in the master plan on hydropower development are small ones, while their combined output account for only 26% of the total amount of hydropower, according to the sci-tech commission.

The State management over hydropower projects is loose, as the supervision is assigned to local authorities or even to the project owners.

“There are some time when the quality management of hydropower projects is assigned to project owners, without the control of competent State agencies,” the commission noted.

Safety management at small-scale projects has not been conformed to the law, posing many risks. Nearly 30% of dams at small projects have not been inspected, while two-thirds of such dams have not had protection plans approved. In addition, up to 55% of project owners have not mapped out schemes to cope with floods, according to the commission.

Source: SGT