The Thanlwin River will soon
lose its status as a dam-free waterway as six hydropower projects have
been approved for it, Deputy Minister of Electrical Power Myint Zaw told
Parliament yesterday.
The projects will span Shan, Kayar and Karen states and generate a combined 15,000 megawatts of power when completed, he said.
The six projects have already been
named: Upper Thanlwin (Kwanlon), Upper Thanlwin (Minetone), Hatgyi,
Naungpha, Mantaung and Ywarthit.
Five companies from China, one Thai
company and three domestic companies will work with the government on
the projects. The three local companies are Goldwater Resources Ltd.,
International Group of Entrepreneurs Co. Ltd. and Shwe Taung Hydropower
Co. Ltd. Thailand’s EGAT International will work on the dam in Karen
State.
The names of the five Chinese companies are not been released yet.
The projects will be constructed under the build-operate-transfer system.
Memorandums of understanding and
environmental and social impact assessments have been completed for two
projects, the Upper Thanlwin (Kwanlon) and Hatgyi. Memorandums of
understanding have been signed for the remaining projects but
environmental and social impact assessments have not yet been completed.
The 2,815-kilometre Thanlwin is one of
the longest rivers in the world, flowing from the Tibetan plateau into
the Andaman Sea. In 2003, sections of the river’s mid-region watershed
were included within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected
Areas, a UNESCO world heritage site.
source: Eleven Myanmar
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