The Central Highlands province of Kon Tum is seeking approval from the Ministry of Industry and Trade for removing four hydropower plant projects from the local small and medium-sized hydropower plant development plan, due to environmental concerns.
According to Le Nhu Chat, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, the four plants are Dak Ruoi 1, Dak Man, Dak Brot, and Song Tranh 1 hydropower plants, with a total capacity of 19.5MW.
A hydropower reservoir in Kon Tum
They were added into the provincial small and medium-sized hydropower project development plan, but would affect 56 hectares of natural forest. Particularly, the investor of Dak Brot hydropower plant has concentrated on gold mining, instead of the project implementation.
By the end of last year, as many as 81 small and medium-sized hydropower plants in Kon Tum were approved with a total capacity of 870MW. Among those, 28 have been completed; while some others are facing controversy over environmental threats, including earthquakes.
Earlier, Dak Po Ne 2AB hydropower plant in Kon Tum Province was fined for discharging water without an announcement, inundating a large area of crops.
The same violation of the Thuong Kon Tum hydropower plant reservoir has killed plants across 25 hectares.
