Cumulative Impacts and Joint Operation of Small-Scale Hydropower Cascades : Case Studies for Selected River Basins in Northwest Vietnam

World Bank

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS ROADS;    ACCESS TO ENERGY;    ADULT FISH;    ALTERNATIVE ENERGY;    ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROGRAM;   

RP-ID  :  ACS8417

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Increasing energy demands and concernsabout global warming call for an increase in energygeneration from renewable sources. Small hydropower plantsrepresent a significant contribution to meet this demand.But the optimal use of this resource in a sustainable mannerstill remains a challenge. A cascade of small dams may havedetrimental impacts on the environment and water use withoutimplementation of proper mitigation measures and planning.To obtain more insight in the consequences of hydropowercascades and possibilities to improve the cascade planningprocess in order to reduce such impacts, the VietnameseMinistry of Industry and Trade and the World Bank jointlyinitiated the study on cumulative impacts and jointoperation of small-scale hydropower cascades Supported bythe Renewable Energy Development Program (REDP) in Vietnam.Chapter two provides a brief background on the small-scalehydropower development in Vietnam including its currentplanning procedures, while Chapter three provides adescription of the six studied river basins. Chapter fourdescribes the approach, methods and definitions of thestudy. During the first phase of the study all six riverswere screened for potential significant cumulative impacts.The results of this screening were presented in a separatereport, of which the summary is given in chapter five. Thisscreening showed that for four of the rivers significantcumulative impacts can be expected, which merited furtherdetailed analysis. These four rivers are Ngoi Xan, Nam Tha,Nam Chien and Sap. For each of the four detailed study casesa description of the river basin and hydropower cascade hasbeen made, the hydrological and environmental impacts wereassessed and opportunities for joint operations quantified.This report presents summaries of the cumulative impactanalyses (chapter six) and draws general conclusions withrespect to present and future environmental conditions(chapter seven). It also summarizes the results of theoptimization modeling for each cascade (chapter eight) andprovides recommendations for future planning and cascadeoperation (chapter nine).