One river with dozens of hydropower projects

Hydroelectricity has been built continuously

The road from Vinh Thanh town to Vinh Kim commune, Vinh Thanh district, Binh Dinh province is 35 kilometers long. Along this road, the stilt houses of Ba Na ethnic people are sparse. However, hydroelectricity plants are built close together.

Right next to Vinh Thanh town, in the direction of Vinh Son upland commune, is Dinh Binh hydropower project with a total capacity of 9.9 MW, invested by Dinh Binh Hydropower Joint Stock Company.

Also in Vinh Hao commune, is Ken Lut Ha hydropower plant, with a capacity of 6 MW.

In addition to these two hydropower plants, Vinh Thanh district also has other hydropower plants such as Tra Xom, Vinh Son, Dak Ple, Nuoc Trinh 1, and Nuoc Trinh 2.

According to Binh Dinh Department of Industry and Trade, the province has a total of 17 hydropower plants.

Vinh Thanh is a mountainous district and is the district with the most hydropower in Binh Dinh. All hydropower plants are built in the Kon River.

The construction of a hydroelectric complex can cause significant environmental impact, principally in loss of arable land and population displacement. They also disrupt the natural ecology of the river involved, affecting habitats and ecosystems, and the siltation and erosion patterns. While dams can ameliorate the risks of flooding, they also contain a risk of dam failure, which can be catastrophic.

People's lives in Vinh Thanh have been changed because hydroelectricity is built too much. In addition to infrastructure, people are also worried about reservoir safety.

During the 2013 flood, water from the lake overflowed, causing large floods and heavy damage to Tay Son and An Nhon districts. As a result, 12 people died. Total property damage was more than VND 1,000 billion.

The forest disappears

Like many other provinces, Binh Dinh province builds hydropower plants according to the planning of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In order to take advantage of the cascade by upstream flow, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has planned 13 hydropower plants on the Kon River, with a total capacity of 289.3 MW. Most of the hydropower plants built are located in Vinh Thanh district, with a total of six plants in operation.

In 2015 alone, 5 hydropower plants were built in the Kon River.

Hydroelectricity is often built on high, to take advantage of water pressure. However, this is where there are primeval forests, which are responsible for watershed protection. The more hydroelectric power plants are built, the more primary forests will be lost.

For example, Tra Xom hydropower plant has a total occupied land area of ​​355.8 hectares. In which, land of rivers and streams is 9.62 hectares and forest land is hectares.

“Tra Xom hydroelectricity occupies a large area of ​​land by blocking the lake bed in the valley to create a new lake bed. So is Ken Lut Ha hydropower plant. Building hydropower plants on the river bed is less forest loss because the reservoir bed is the river bed," said Nguyen Ngoc Sang, Deputy head of the Energy Management Department, Binh Dinh Department of Industry and Trade.

Other hydropower plants such as Vinh Son 2, Vinh Son 3, Tien Thuan, Vinh Son 4, Vinh Son 5, and Nuoc Luong each occupy tens of hectares of watershed protection forest.

“There are few rivers with as many hydropower plants as the Kon River. The crowding of hydroelectric plants causes the river to deform. In addition, many areas of watershed protection forests have been lost. The local authorities are constantly under pressure from the people about the impact of hydropower," a former leader of Vinh Thanh District People's Committee said.