{"id":1714,"date":"2025-04-23T20:25:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T20:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2025-07-07T13:14:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:14:49","slug":"a-giant-battery-on-mekong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/stories\/a-giant-battery-on-mekong\/","title":{"rendered":"A giant battery on Mekong"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A giant battery on Mekong<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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by Luca Catalano Gonzaga<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Mekong river is the longest river in South-Est Asia and the source of livelihood for more than 60 million people. It provides fish and water to the ones living along its hydrographic basin and it is the main pillar for the economic development of the Region. It flows for 4.800 km crossing six different countries, with unique ecosystems plenty of biodiversity. At the very beginning of November 2019, the hydroelectric plant located in Xayaburi, in Northern Laos, got into operations; it has costed several billions of US dollars and it has been built in nine years, mainly thanks to Thailand\u2019s funds. It exploits Mekong\u2019s river water, with its 1,3-gigawatt power, and it is going to provide electric energy mainly (96%) meant to be purchased by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. From the moment operations started, the dam of the power plant in Xayaburi made Mekong waters go down by one and a half meter, the lowest level ever recorded in the last century. Nevertheless, the Laotian Government is planning to build about additional 140 dams in the next years, along Mekong river and its tributaries, thanks to funds mainly (50%) provided by the Chinese Government and with the ambition to become \u201cthe battery of Asia\u201d. Environmentalist, experts and representatives from the local communities have been warning since many years about the exploitation of Mekong that has been causing, and will keep causing, massive damages to the dozens of millions fishermen living in its basin and whose survival has been relying on fish and its catch since ages; now, their future seems to be put at risk more than ever. From China to Vietnam, hydroelectric dams are interrupting the natural flow of Mekong river and its tributaries, holding and then loosing the water so to run huge turbines. Nowhere else but in the communist State of Laos, the situation is so utterly evident, with 46 dams operating along rivers and with their flows making abuse of Mekong water, thus generating a 6.5000-megawatt of combined energy power. Contaminants are leaked in its waters daily, affecting fish and crustaceans first, then their catch \u2013 by million tons per year \u2013 that\u2019s exported across the whole world, with an estimated turnover of 17 billion of US dollars. Additionally, Global Warming is endangering the mere existence of the Tibetan glaciers where Mekong river is born and is influencing the regularity and intensity of seasonal monsoons rains that flow the river along its path. Yet, exploiting its enormous hydroelectric potential is the main issue and not only on the medium to long-term run. Last year, a dam collapsed in Laos and caused a flood that killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of buildings; the accident was caused by a human error or so the Government of Laos stated, though culprits were never identified. Thousands of Laotian people had to move so to make room for plants and their connected basins, with entire villages, inhabited ever since, submerged by water and thus impacting the local communities who had been living by the river and forcing many of the inhabitants to dramatically change their life style as they could no longer count on Mekong and its sources.\u00a0(Text by\u00a0Luca Catalano Gonzaga<\/strong>).<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\"Mekong
Mekong River, Laos 2019. A fisherman is pushing fish into his nets by flapping his oars on the water. Fish get scared by the noise and end up into the nets, were fish get entangled in. Mekong used to have the biggest fish catch in the world, representing about 25% of the global freshwater catch. Its 500 know fish species were once able to sustain a population of approximately 60 million people.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong river, Laos 2019. The Mekong used to be one of the richest fishing areas of the world. More than 500 known species ensured the livelihood of sixty million inhabitants in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But nowadays it\u2019s totally different. Water nutrients have dramatically decreased, endangering the already-fragile river ecosystem. Natural nutrients are crucial for the river\u2019s health and essential to keep fish alive. All of this is happening because of the dams\u2019 build-ups.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong river, Laos 2019. A fisherman is drawing the nets. The Mekong used to be one of the richest fishing areas of the world. More than 500 known species ensured the livelihood of sixty million inhabitants in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But nowadays it\u2019s totally different. Water nutrients have dramatically decreased, endangering the already-fragile river ecosystem. Natural nutrients are crucial for the river\u2019s health and essential to keep fish alive. All of this is happening because of the dams\u2019 build-ups.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong River, Laos 2019. A fisherman returns at sunset to the Nem Savagon relocation camp, nearby Xayaburi dam. Fish survival in endangered by the many existing dams and so the life of hundred of thousands of fishermen and farmer who have been living in strict symbiosis with the Mekong river, providing them fish for food and for sale, on top of the needed water to irrigate rice fields, fruit and vegetables orchards. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong River, Laos 2019. A Fisherman is collecting wood for the campfire.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong river, Laos 2019. A fisherman is preparing his fishing equipment.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Kong river, Laos 2019. Nilinthone, twelve years old, is about to throw his rudimentary net. Such unruly dams\u2019 construction is endangering the usual migration routes for many fish species, either to the floodplains or to the mountains and the biggest part of biomass is going to be lost and consequently river\u2019s biodiversity will. A humanitarian catastrophe is expected, due to the huge decrease in fish stock and waters flow needed to irrigate the fields and that\u2019s about to affect people mainly living out of fish catch and agriculture.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Kong River, Laos 2019. A view of Nam Kong river. Three dams-built are planned along its shores: Nam Kan 1 and 3 currently under construction and Nam Kan 2 that was completed in 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Kong River, Laos 2019. A view of Nam Kong river. Three dams-built are planned along its shores: Nam Kan 1 and 3 currently under construction and Nam Kan 2 that was completed in 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong River, Laos 2019. A fisherman taking his bath at sunset after a day of work on the Mekong river, close to Nern Savagon relocation camp.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong river, Laos 2019. Is seven a.m., fishing starts, and it is going to last until sunset.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Khan River flow got interrupted by the construction of the Nam Khan dam 2. Laos has built dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong and its tributaries and is preparing to build scores more dams in the years ahead. Though the Lao government sees power generation to boost the country\u2019s economy, the projects are controversial because of their environmental impact and displacement of villagers.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Mekong
Mekong river, Laos 2019. A fisherman is preparing the daily catch. Just as fish also Mekong river is slowly dying. Additionally, also local people \u2013 who has been surviving for decades - and their habits are disappearing.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nern
Nern Savang relocation camp, Laos 2019. The camp was built in 2013, it houses 281 families who were forced to move because of Xayaburi\u2019s dam construction, just along the Mekong river shore.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Samaky
Samaky Sai relocaion camp, Laos 2019. Portrait of a little girl in her home. The houses are carbon copies of each other and built as cheaply as possible; cracks cross through many of the concrete walls and the roads are uneven and dusty.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nern
Nern Savang relocation camp, Laos 2019. Playtime at Nem Sayang relocation camp\u2019s school. The camp was built in 2013 it houses 281 families who were forced to move because of Xayaburi\u2019s dam construction, just along the Mekong river shore.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nern
Nern Savang relocation camp, Laos 2019. A fisherman with his family at home.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Xayaburi
Xayaburi Dam, Mekong River, Laos 2019. The Xayaburi dam is the first out of five large dams planned to be built in Laos, along the Mekong river and officially started operating in November 2019, as a milestone of the ambitious yet controversial plan of the Government of Laos to become the \u201cbattery of South-East Asia\u201d. Its construction started back in 2012 and both environmentalist and human rights activists long criticised its construction.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Ou Dam 2, Laos 2019. The Nam Ou river extends for 450 km, flowing south from the mountains close by the Lao-China border, in Northern Laos where it meets the Mekong river. The construction of seven, currently ongoing, is managed by the Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation. These dams will have a massive impact on the communities of different ethnic minorities, who have been relying on Nam Ou river and on the surrounding forest resources to get food and income. It is expected a total of 89 villages to be displaced.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Ou 1 dam, Laos 2019. The Nam Ou river spans 450 kilometres, flowing south from mountains near the Lao-China border in Northern Laos to meet the waters of the mainstream Mekong River. The seven dam projects will span over 350 kilometres of the river and have an installed capacity of approximately 1,146MW.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Nam
Nam Khan dam 2, Laos 2019. The Nam Khan river is an important Mekong tributary and it has been interrupted by the construction of three dams that caused the forced outplacement of thousands of people who had been living there for generations. With hundreds more dams planned for the country, environmentalists are rising the alarm as the Mekong River system in Laos could be devastated, together with the lives of those relying on it.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Samaky
Samaky Sai relocaion camp, Laos. Many families come from faraway mountain villages 2019. They got displaced by a series of dams-construction along the Nam Ngum river. With no fields to cultivate many of them were forced to solely dedicate to the more and more insecure fishing catch due to the lowering water level of the river caused by the dams.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\"Samaky
Samaky Sai relocaion camp, Laos 2019. A playing field right outside of the relocation camp.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A giant battery on Mekong by Luca Catalano Gonzaga The Mekong river is the longest river in South-Est Asia and the source of livelihood for more than 60 million people. It provides fish and water to the ones living along its hydrographic basin and it is the main pillar for the economic development of the Region. It flows for 4.800 km crossing six different countries, with unique ecosystems plenty of biodiversity. At the very beginning of November 2019, the hydroelectric plant located in Xayaburi, in Northern Laos, got into operations; it has costed several billions of US dollars and it has been built in nine years, mainly thanks to Thailand\u2019s funds. It exploits Mekong\u2019s river water, with its 1,3-gigawatt power, and it is going to provide electric energy mainly (96%) meant to be purchased by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. From the moment operations started, the dam of the power plant in Xayaburi made Mekong waters go down by one and a half meter, the lowest level ever recorded in the last century. Nevertheless, the Laotian Government is planning to build about additional 140 dams in the next years, along Mekong river and its tributaries, thanks to funds mainly (50%) provided by the Chinese Government and with the ambition to become \u201cthe battery of Asia\u201d. Environmentalist, experts and representatives from the local communities have been warning since many years about the exploitation of Mekong that has been causing, and will keep causing, massive damages to the dozens of millions fishermen living in its basin and whose survival has been relying on fish and its catch since ages; now, their future seems to be put at risk more than ever. From China to Vietnam, hydroelectric dams are interrupting the natural flow of Mekong river and its tributaries, holding and then loosing the water so to run huge turbines. Nowhere else but in the communist State of Laos, the situation is so utterly evident, with 46 dams operating along rivers and with their flows making abuse of Mekong water, thus generating a 6.5000-megawatt of combined energy power. Contaminants are leaked in its waters daily, affecting fish and crustaceans first, then their catch \u2013 by million tons per year \u2013 that\u2019s exported across the whole world, with an estimated turnover of 17 billion of US dollars. Additionally, Global Warming is endangering the mere existence of the Tibetan glaciers where Mekong river is born and is influencing the regularity and intensity of seasonal monsoons rains that flow the river along its path. Yet, exploiting its enormous hydroelectric potential is the main issue and not only on the medium to long-term run. Last year, a dam collapsed in Laos and caused a flood that killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of buildings; the accident was caused by a human error or so the Government of Laos stated, though culprits were never identified. Thousands of Laotian people had to move so to make room for plants and their connected basins, with entire villages, inhabited ever since, submerged by water and thus impacting the local communities who had been living by the river and forcing many of the inhabitants to dramatically change their life style as they could no longer count on Mekong and its sources.\u00a0(Text by\u00a0Luca Catalano Gonzaga). Mekong River, Laos 2019. A fisherman is pushing fish into his nets by flapping his oars on the water. Fish get scared by the noise and end up into the nets, were fish get entangled in. Mekong used to have the biggest fish catch in the world, representing about 25% of the global freshwater catch. Its 500 know fish species were once able to sustain a population of approximately 60 million people. Mekong river, Laos 2019. The Mekong used to be one of the richest fishing areas of the world. More than 500 known species ensured the livelihood of sixty million inhabitants in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But nowadays it\u2019s totally different. Water nutrients have dramatically decreased, endangering the already-fragile river ecosystem. Natural nutrients are crucial for the river\u2019s health and essential to keep fish alive. All of this is happening because of the dams\u2019 build-ups. Mekong river, Laos 2019. A fisherman is drawing the nets. The Mekong used to be one of the richest fishing areas of the world. More than 500 known species ensured the livelihood of sixty million inhabitants in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But nowadays it\u2019s totally different. Water nutrients have dramatically decreased, endangering the already-fragile river ecosystem. Natural nutrients are crucial for the river\u2019s health and essential to keep fish alive. All of this is happening because of the dams\u2019 build-ups. Mekong River, Laos 2019. A fisherman returns at sunset to the Nem Savagon relocation camp, nearby Xayaburi dam. Fish survival in endangered by the many existing dams and so the life of hundred of thousands of fishermen and farmer who have been living in strict symbiosis with the Mekong river, providing them fish for food and for sale, on top of the needed water to irrigate rice fields, fruit and vegetables orchards. Mekong River, Laos 2019. A Fisherman is collecting wood for the campfire. Mekong river, Laos 2019. A fisherman is preparing his fishing equipment. Nam Kong river, Laos 2019. Nilinthone, twelve years old, is about to throw his rudimentary net. Such unruly dams\u2019 construction is endangering the usual migration routes for many fish species, either to the floodplains or to the mountains and the biggest part of biomass is going to be lost and consequently river\u2019s biodiversity will. A humanitarian catastrophe is expected, due to the huge decrease in fish stock and waters flow needed to irrigate the fields and that\u2019s about to affect people mainly living out of fish catch and agriculture. Nam Kong River, Laos 2019. A view of Nam Kong river. Three dams-built are planned along its shores: Nam Kan 1 and 3 currently under construction and Nam Kan 2 that was completed in 2016. Nam Kong River, Laos 2019. A view of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1714"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8474,"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.witnessimage.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}