Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Institute of Energy
The Center and Western Highlands area ranks second after the North in hydropower potential, but has the most hydropower plants in the country.
In the last 10 years, there is a trend of investment in hydropower plants, leading to the dense appearance of hydropower systems in the Center and Western Highlands area, causing serious damages to the environment and socio-economy.
Although there have been several works studying the impacts of hydropower projects on a certain river basin, typical and representative impacts for the whole economic zone or all the basin have not been pointed out. Besides, for hydropower plants which have come into operation, no impact assessments have been conducted to assess their efficiency and environmental issues caused by their operation.
In order to have insights into the environment impacts in the Center and Western Highlands, this Study has conducted a survey to assess the current status of the hydropower plants and river basins in this area. On that basis, environment management and conservation solutions are proposed to achieve the sustainable hydropower development target in the future.
