Laos - The Battery of Asia

19 February 2013

It’s been really too hot for walking this past week. By the time the sun burns away the mist in the morning the temperature is too high to make walking a pleasure (low 30s), so we retire to the shade, put the fan on and find things to do that are less energetic.

... Such as watching this bee dig a hole in the bungalow upright. Don't think Khoun will be too pleased!

Yesterday, however, the skies were cloudy and it was cool enough to set off on a walk up into the hills. We decided to saunter for an hour or so along a dirt road we hadn’t yet explored, past the Japanese-funded village school and up a wooded valley. As we walked, we could hear the river cascading along in the valley below us.

School girls giggle and pose.

Eventually there was a path down to an iron bridge over the river and we were able to walk down the bank to the water side. It was a fabulous spot, with rushing water, green pools, hibiscus flowers, rocks and overhanging trees.

What we didn’t realise at that stage was that what we had found was the outfall from the Nam Dong Hydropower Plant!

The Nam Dong was the very first hydro project in Laos. It was built in 1970 to supply the Royal family in Luang Prabang with electricity. Although it’s over 40 years old it still works well, with a capacity of 1 megawatt.

Of course this is peanuts in comparison to modern day hydro projects. The Xayaburi Dam, which is currently under construction in southern Laos, has an installed capacity of over 1200 MW. The Lao government reckons the country could be generating up to 28,000 MW one day, aiming to become the “Battery of Asia”. The plan is to use the Mekong and its tributaries to boost the country’s earning capacity by selling electricity to its energy-hungry neighbours - Thailand, Vietnam and China. At present there are 16 major plants in operation, producing just over 2500 MW, and 23 more in the planning stages.

All this is not without consequences and not everyone is happy. Although hydroelectricity is essentially a renewable energy source, large projects like this have massive environmental and social consequences. Indigenous tribes displaced by earlier hydro schemes in Laos were persuaded to leave their lands with the promise of better housing, schools and healthcare. Many report that such promises were not fulfilled by the government and life became much harder for them once they had lost their traditional land rights. No surprises there then!

Everyday scenery as we walk back.

This is a rural Lao service station - marked on the map as such! It comprises one bike tyre and three bottles of gasolene.

In other news, Khoun and Khone are having their house re-thatched. The roofer has removed the old thatch already and today his wife has the task of passing the new thatch panels up to him on the roof, using a hook on a long bamboo pole. Meanwhile their toddler plays nearby in the shade and the school-age boy joins them in the afternoon. It’s a family affair.