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SALWEEN WATCH HOTMAIL OUT
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE SALWEEN MEGADAM Salween Watch Date: 17th May 1999. Vol. 2 ----------------------------------- First Phase Of Salween Dam Survey Completed BurmaNews - BC: April 28, 1999 (based on reports from
S.H.A.N., SARN and DTS) <m.win@sh-home.de> Power shortages a long way yet from solution CHIANG MAI --Companies interested in building a dam on the Salween River in southern Shan State have completed the first round of their field studies, according to a Shan Herald source recently returned from Shan State. The site being surveyed is a gorge to the north of Ta Sang Bridge, which links the roads between Mong Pan and Mong Ton townships, 90 miles north of the Thai border. The surveying began in October last year and ended on March 31 this year. The survey team representing Thai, Japanese and Burmese companies has now moved out of the area. The companies involved include Thailand's MDX Power Co., the main Thai contractor, Japan's Electric Power Development Corporation, and a Burmese company, Aye Chan Aye. There were several security alerts halting activities during the survey, owing to the presence of the Shan States Army's 727th Brigade in the region. A Southeast Asia Rivers Network (SARN) report issued recently estimated that construction time for the dam at this site or another possible location south of Ta Sang would be upwards of five years. The potential generating capacity is said to be anywhere from 2,500 to 4,000 megawatts. Burma has chronic power shortages due to a number of factors including rapidly expanding consumption and low water levels at the country's largest hydro electric generating station. Official figures estimate current electricity consumption at 750 megawatts while the maximum generating capacity is only 680 megawatts per day in the central power grid. The Law-pi-ta power plant has an installed capacity of 196 MW, but has been providing only 70 MW due to water shortages brought on by drought conditions and forest devastation in the Inle Lake catchment basin in southwestern Shan state. In the latter part of 1998, Chinese corporations signed loans and contracts to provide the hardware needed for three new generating stations. The Paunglaung project in Pyinmana township is the nearest to completion with work moving ahead on the second penstock. Yunnan Machinery Equipment Corporation (YMEC) inked a $US 160,000,000 contract with the state power company last October to install generators and other equipment needed for this project. When completed, it is slated to produce 280 MW daily for the national power grid. Dam and power station construction projects at Thaphanseik in Sagaing Division and Mone Creek in Magwe Division are still at least three years away from the generation stage. |
