VietNamNet Bridge - Two new hydropower projects, including Lao Pak Beng and Cambodian Sambor, on the upper course of the Mekong River have increased the risks for Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region.

VietNamNet Bridge - Failing to get permission to use special-use forest (SUF) land for a hydropower project, the Dak Lak provincial authorities are pursuing another approach.

The Muong Lo field in Yen Bai province, the rice granary in the northwest, is withering as it has not received enough water from hydropower plants during the dry season.

Since 2015, Vietnam has shifted from an energy exporting country to an importing country. It has to import 3 percent of the primary energy needed, but the figure will rise to 24 percent by 2030.

VietNamNet Bridge - Irrigation reservoirs throughout the country, capable of containing 13.5 billion cubic meters, are now being called ‘water bombs’, threatening people in lowland areas. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Provincial authorities in the central region have decided to withdraw proposed hydropower projects in an effort to protect forested land. 

If 300-400 more small- and medium-sized hydropower plants are built, the total capacity would be 3,000-4,000 MW, or 15 billion kwh of electricity, according to the VN Environment Administration.

VietNamNet Bridge - Three hydropower plants in central Vietnam are located in a core ecological area, one in a natural reserve’s ecological rehabilitation zone. 

In 2013, MOIT decided to remove 400 small-scale hydropower projects out of the hydropower development program. But many projects were then carried out in the mountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Cao Bang.

“The program on building terraced hydropower plants on small rivers is a wrong decision. It is the root cause of floods,” said Vu Trong Hong, former Deputy Minister of Water Resources, now chair of the Vietnam Water Resources Association.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam may import electricity from Laos to minimize the risks from relying on Chinese imports and to offset supply shortages caused by cutting off power sources which pollute the environment.

 The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development has proposed PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc suspend a project on hydropower plants in the Central Highlands Province of Dak Lak to protect the local environment and wild animals.

Ha Giang province in the past welcomed the construction of a number of hydropower plants, but they have now badly affected the environment and ecosystem.

VietNamNet Bridge – In order to create one megawatt of electricity, Vietnam has to “sacrifice” 10 hectares of forest.

VietNamNet Bridge – Laos should be warned that the economic benefits it can expect from the Don Sahong hydropower plant are very modest compared with the damages it may cause, scientists say.

Upcoming construction of new hydroelectricity plants threatens residents of the central province of Quang Ngai's Son Ha district.

VietNamNet Bridge – Hydropower projects on the Mekong River, including the Don Sahong in Laos, will pose a threat to the balance of water, fish, and alluvium resources, while harming the ecosystem in the Mekong Delta region,

 VietNamNet Bridge - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai has confirmed that the ministry will pay compensation for farmers whose crops were damaged when the dam of the Krel 2 hydro-power plant released water last Friday.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Earthquakes and incidents of soil collapse have occurred more frequently near hydropower plant areas in recent months. No detailed conclusions have been made about the cases.

 VietNamNet Bridge – When they began to build a hydropower plant on Ba River, the investors promised that the plant would provide the lowlands with water and help ease floods. But they have backed away from their promises.