Dams on a Myanmar–Thai transboundary river

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to study dams on transboundary rivers. In this study, the case of the Nu–Salween–Thanlwin River is reviewed. This study is an attempt toward developing a conceptual model to explain the unequal hydropower exchange of hydropower dams on transboundary rivers. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews big dam project plans on the Salween–Thanlwin River near the Myanmar–Thailand border from the perspective of critical hydropolitics. The evidence is drawn from an extensive review of academic literature, reports, newspapers and websites on this topic. Cascao and Zeitoun’s (2010) four pillars of power, namely, geographical, material, bargaining and ideational power, are reviewed in the case of the Salween–Thanlwin River and its riparian states. Findings On the basis of a realist discourse, power relationships between dams and their socio-environmental effects are discussed from the perspective of critical hydropolitics. Multiple levels of power asymmetry regarding geographical, material, bargaining and ideational power are observed. The powerful states are high electricity consumers and importers. They invest in hydroelectric dams of adjacent developing states and buy back most of the electricity generated to fuel their industrialization and urbanization. Weak states generally do not have high bargaining power. They depend on the investment of high material power states for domestic and economic development and gain from the export of electricity. However, the externalities of hydropower dams are transferred to these weak states. This contributes to an unequal hydropower exchange model. Practical implications The model provides an analytical framework for hydropower dam projects through which comprehensive and multidimensional views are extracted. Academia, policymakers, private developers, international development agencies and nongovernment organizations will have a better understanding of hydropower dam projects and the interactions among riparian states. Originality/value This conceptual model stems from Cascao and Zeitoun’s (2010) four pillars of power – geographical, material, bargaining and ideational power. The author limits the framework to hydroelectric dams in transboundary rivers. The powerful states are high electricity consumers and importers that dominate the dam development projects and exchange process.

Investigating the Dynamic Impact of CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth on Renewable Energy Production: Evidence from FMOLS and DOLS Tests

“…Every decade, since 1960, the average temperature in the Southeast Asian region has risen, which has adversely added to climate change. The economic progress of five of the ASEAN countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, is commendable compared to the other two [15]. Nevertheless, Vietnam and Myanmar have shown the highest renewable energy production among the other regional counties.…”

“…As such, these two developing economies of ASEAN, for renewable energy initiatives, were also included in this study. It is pertinent to mention that 57% of the total electricity production in Myanmar has been based on its indigenous hydropower resources, thereby tackling, effectively, the emission of greenhouse gases [15]. Moreover, Myanmar, together with Vietnam, has also focused on implementing the climate-resilient de-carbonization pathways, thus assuring its significance in the renewable energy market.…”

The future of hydropower? A systematic review of the drivers, benefits and governance dynamics of transboundary dams

“…A different modality of bilateral cooperation is observed in transboundary hydropower along transboundary rivers in South and South East Asia, depicted in Fig 6 . The studies that analyse transboundary cooperation in these regions highlight hydropower bilateral trade and investment as the main feature of such arrangements [51,[80][81][82], termed by one study a "revenue generation model" [47]. In the Mekong region, cooperation takes the form of interstate electricity import-export agreements, where electricity consumers and importers tend to import electricity from adjacent states in the form of direct investment in power plants [53,80]. Some of the most studied cases adopt this model, such as the Xayaburi, Theun Hinboun, Nam Theun 2, all based in Laos, which exports hydroelectricity to Vietnam and Thailand.…”

“…While most studies in our sample emphasized either social and environmental costs and benefits, such as displacement and resettlement of local communities, change of landscape [70,80,85,88], environmental damage, biodiversity loss and pollution [50,56,[88][89][90][91][92], these are widely associated with the construction stage [5,10] and are not necessarily or exclusively transboundary in nature A number of studies did explicitly address specific benefits of transboundary projects, as the potential of some transboundary projects to become devices to address long existing territorial disputes under certain circumstances [55,56,72] , serve as catalysers for market integration and harness synergies and resource complementarities [58,69,71,72,93] Fewer studies, less than one-third (28%) as seen in Table 1 above, address energy policy goals such as-related benefits or costs [6,57,64,68,85,94,95]. We argue that, without downplaying the importance of environmental and social impacts, more research is needed to explore energy specific costs and benefits related to the generation and use of shared hydroelectricity, and specifically on dimensions of affordability, energy access and energy security.…”