Development Of Hydropower Projects Research Articles

Natural Resources and Social Justice Agenda in Nepal: From Local Experiences and Struggles to Policy Reform

The demand for greater community control over natural resources have been profound in recent decades in Nepal and beyond. These demands go together with calls for social justice, which remains a coveted goal in the struggles over resources and development. However, social justice remains an elusive idea in regard to what it is and how it can be achieved in societies characterized by inequalities based on caste, ethnicity, class and gender. Accordingly, it is far from clear what specific policy and legal provisions work well in particular historical, social and political contexts. This article surveys the theoretical debate of social justice generally, and the way it helps understand local peoples’ experiences and claims around natural resources and development projects. Drawing upon the literature, it highlights the pluralist framework of social justice in terms of the ideas of redistribution, recognition and participation, and employs that framework for the analysis of three diverse cases from in Nepal: a) hydropower project development in Lamjung, b) rights of fishing communities in Kailali, and c) programon reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The analysis shows that, while Nepal’s constitution and political rhetoric acknowledges the rights and entitlements to disadvantaged groups, it has not abetted the need for local struggles for resource access and control. Broad policy announcements lack follow-through measures and tools, where more attention will be needed in order for a more socially just resourcegovernance and development.

Understanding the social network of stakeholders in hydropower project development: An owners' view

Abstract Hydropower development involves managing a network of diverse stakeholders. Owners play a critical part in effectively cooperating and establishing inter-organizational linking with stakeholders to achieve multiple project objectives. According to the data which is from the construction industry of hydropower in China, the research aims to investigate the causal relationships between cooperation with stakeholders and inter-organizational linking systematically, together with their impacts on the owners' social capital by developing and testing a conceptual model. Path analysis confirms that cooperation with stakeholders cannot only directly improve owners' social capital but also exert its influence on social capital through enhancement of inter-organizational linking, thereby improving project performance and winning external supports for owners' long-term development. Social network analysis shows that, from the perspective of owners, project stakeholders are clearly grouped into four clusters related to project feasibility, implementation, procurement and resettlement of migrants. These clusters reflect stakeholder's different roles and connections with each other in hydropower development. Understanding the above in-depth underlying relationships is fundamental for improving multi-organizational dynamics research to a state of the art, and help project participants to appropriately adopt cooperative strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of each stakeholder's resources.

A Study of the Chousen Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation, a Chousen Special-Purpose Company Active in the 1930s

As part of a research project on Korean special-purpose companies of the 1930s, this study empirically examined the formation and management of Joseon Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation which had undertaken the development of water power on the Amnokgang River since September 1937. In August 1937, the Japanese Government- General of Korea signed a joint operation agreement with Manchukuo to establish Joseon Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation. The company was an ordinary corporation formed by the pooling of private resources, unlike Manchuria Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation characterized as a government-owned special-purpose business entity. Furthermore, by setting up the Korea-Manchuria Amnokgang Joint Technical Committee, the Amnokgang Waterpower Development Committee and the Amnokgang Dam Technical Committee, the Japanese Government- General of Korea had the exclusively authority to supervise and control the overall progress of the Amnokgang River hydropower development project and was inextricably involved in the distribution of ownership. The first phase of the Amnokgang hydropower development plan was intended to build a global-scale dam and power plant in Supung, which started operations in August. The Supung Power Plant served southern Manchuria and the northwestern area of Korea with its power-generating capacity for plentiful and cheap electricity, contributing to the rise of energy-intensive industries and the heavy and chemical industrialization in the areas. Joseon Amnokgang Waterpower Corporation was a strategic capital entity and typical Korean special-purpose company the Japanese Government-General of Korea assigned to promote the development of key industries, by mobilizing capital, technological capabilities and business resources from the private sector.

Public Participation in Controversial Engineering Decision-Process

This research selected two typical controversial projects, the eventual closing of Hayi gas project and shelving of Nujiang hydropower development project. It was discovered that the participating subjects and forms have undergone significant changes along with the times. In the Hayi gas project instance, the participating subjects were mainly news media, citizens and experts, and Nujiang hydropower development project also incurred active intervention from environmental protection NGO organizations who were not direct stakeholders.From the second aspect, in the Hayi instance, the news media all came up with positive reports thus avoided the "controversies" ; there were only public passive participation, if any; experts were arbitrarily selected and had limited influence; all these circumstances led to only internal disputes in the government, and quelled by virtue of administrative powers. On the other hand, in the Nujiang case, there were diversified news reports, active participations by experts and environmental protection NGO organizations. All these factors resulted in the powerful social outcry due to controversy spillover and eventual abortion of the project.

Contesting Instrumental Knowledge With Communicative Action: Why Kalabagh Dam (Pakistan) Remains Unbuilt

The building of Kalabagh Dam—Pakistan’s largest hydropower development project—has been stalled for decades. This article interrogates why and how this project has been grounded for so long. It shows that the state and its administrative agencies that support dam building rest their case on “expert” knowledge, while dismissing the counterknowledge produced by the anti-dam coalition of environmentalists, nationalists, and spiritualists as “inexpert.” Consequently, the dam has become a proxy for contending knowledge claims between the dam’s supporters and anti-dam activists. Deploying Habermas’s communicative action theory that critiques expert knowledge as “instrumental rationality,” this article demonstrates that the Pakistani anti-dam movement’s communicative action played the pivotal role in stalling the dam’s building. It typologizes actors, defending and opposing the dam, and documents their knowledge claims. The article contributes to the environmental movement literature by illuminating the ways in which anti-dam activists structure communicative claims, and deploy them for the public contestation of instrumental knowledge and interests.

A new framework for sustainable hydropower development project

This project studies on the establishment of a new framework for sustainable hydropower development. A hydropower development is listed as one of the prescribed activities under the Environmental Quality Order 1987. Thus, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) guidelines must be referred to comply with the Department of Environment (DoE) requirements. In order to execute EIA, an assessment tool that will be utilized in the final evaluation phase must be determined. The selected assessment tool that will be used is Systematic Sustainability Assessment(SSA) which is a new integrated tool to evaluate the sustainability performance. A pilot run is conducted in five different departments within the Energy Company to validate the efficiency of the SSA tool. The parameters to be evaluated are constructed aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to maintain the sustainability features. Consequently, the performance level of the sustainability with respect to People, Planet and Profit (3P’s) is able to be discovered during evaluation phase in the hydropower development for continuous improvement.

A benefit-sharing model for hydropower projects based on stakeholder input-output analysis: A case study of the Xiluodu Project in China

The rich hydro resources and global pressures of greenhouse gas emission have promoted the rapid development of hydropower projects in China. However, the benefit distribution unfairness in hydropower projects leads to problems such as resettlement conflicts, which significantly hinder the sustainable development of hydro resources. In order to determine a reasonable benefit sharing policy system, this study employs a new perspective, which treats the reservoir migrants as a formal project stakeholder rather than the passive “compensation receivers” previous practices have considered them to be. From this perspective, this study 1) identifies the stakeholders of hydropower projects and their input/output factors based on stakeholder theories, and highlights the four most important core stakeholders, i.e., government, hydropower generation enterprises, reservoir migrants, and power grid enterprises; 2) designs a specific calculation method for the four core project stakeholders’ cash flows and establishes a quantitative benefit-sharing model based on the input-output analysis; and 3) employs the Xiluodu Project in China as a case study to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Theoretically, the change in reservoir migrants’ status in the project delivery framework provides a new perspective for benefit sharing and resettlement studies. Practically, this study establishes a feasible quantitative tool for the description and assessment of benefit sharing systems, and the overall assessment of hydropower projects. The results of the case study show that, under the current benefit distribution policy of China, yields of reservoir migrants are significantly lower than those of other core stakeholders. The results also indicate that, by increasing resettlement compensation standards and slightly adjusting the electricity generation price, all core stakeholders’ yields can reach a more rational and fair level.

Hydropower development and the meaning of place. Multi-ethnic hydropower struggles in Sikkim, India

Academic research and media tend to emphasize the strong opposition to hydropower development in Sikkim, India, and position this as resistance to an environmentally-destructive, trans-local development, particularly by the culturally-rooted, ethnic minority Bhutia and Lepcha communities. There are several accounts of contestations of hydropower development projects in India’s Eastern Himalayan States – signifying robust and predictable indigenous people-place connections. Why then, was the implementation of the largest, Teesta Stage III Hydro Electric Project, located in Chungthang Gram Panchayat Unit in North Sikkim, in the heartland of the Bhutia-Lepcha region, not contested? In unraveling this anomaly, our focus is to understand how people-place connections are shaped and differentially experienced. Our findings are that hydropower development has elicited diverse responses locally, ranging from fierce contestation to indifference, to enthusiastic acceptance. The complexity and malleability of “place” and people’s “sense of place” provide evidence that indigeneity does not always indicate resistance to large-scale project interventions. In ethnically and socio-politically fractured communities like Chungthang, trans-local developments can reinforce ethno-social divides and disparities, and re-align traditional place-based ethno-centric solidarities along new politically-motivated lines. We argue that linear, one-dimensional views of local social coalescence around place belie more complex relations, which evolve dynamically in diverse socio-cultural and politico-economic contexts.

Optimizing Location of Cutoffs to Improve Safety and Economy of Hydropower Projects

Large numbers of perennial rivers flowing through steep gradient has made Nepal an ideal place for hydropower development. Development of hydropower project in most economical way possible is the first prerequisite to get maximum benefit from harnessing water resources. The maximum benefit can be achieved only through optimal design of the project. Each project component must be designed considering the required level of factor of safety, performance standards of each component and economy. On this backdrop, this paper intends to optimize the location of cutoffs in headworks to get maximum benefits from use of it in terms of safety and economy.Improper placement of cutoff not only reduces the factor of safety against piping but also curtails the project benefits due to excessive seepage flow. Piping (internal erosion of soil particles under structure) is associated with high exit gradient. It threatens the structural stability and ultimately leads to failure of structure while as excessive seepage flow limits the availability of flow for power generation and reduces the project benefits. So, the optimal design of headworks is an attempt to identify the best location of cutoff to control seepage flow and reduce exit gradient. Five different cases representing different location of cutoff were analyzed and their roles in controlling seepage flow and reducing exit gradient was evaluated to optimize the cutoff location. 2D Finite Element Method (FEM) was used for the seepage analysis. The analysis showed that cutoffs are essential to control seepage flow when dam/weir is founded in pervious soil. However, the best location to place cutoff must be adroitly identified to reap maximum benefit from use of cutoff. The analysis reveals that the role of central cutoff in controlling seepage flow and reducing exit gradient is very limited. Likewise, the u/s cutoff has minimum effect in reducing exit gradient but the d/s cutoff seemed very effective in reducing exit gradient resulting increased factor of safety against piping. Hence, this paper concludes that the d/s end is the optimal location to place cutoff to improve safety and economy of the project. In addition, the use of both u/s and d/s cutoffs extend positive roles both in controlling seepage flow and reducing exit gradient. However, in author’s opinion the construction cost of two cutoffs must be compared with benefit added by use of two cutoffs over use of single d/s cutoff. HYDRO Nepal JournalJournal of Water Energy and EnvironmentIssue: 21, July, 2017Page: 42-44Upload Date: July 18, 2017

Stakeholder cooperation management in hydropower development projects

Stakeholder cooperation management in hydropower development projects

Analyze the factors effecting the development of hydro power projects in hydro rich regions of India

Summary Power is considered as the major back bone for all the nations throughout the world including India on the basis of which development of the country depends. If a country has the resources to generate the power at competitive price in that case the people of the country get the benefits in terms of improvement in their social and economical life. When we talk about India, various locations in the country where still there is no electricity people are living in dark without having the access of the modern technology. The total hydro power potential of India is 1, 50,000 MW out of this total hydro potential only 40,195 MW is exploited till 2014. More than 80% of the total hydro potential of the country is lying in the western Himalayan states (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Arunachal Pradesh). Small hydro projects are also playing a very important role in the modern world for the development of the remote areas which are not main grid connected specially in western Himalayan region of India. India has a total potential 19,749 MW of small hydro projects and of this total potential only 3990.9 MW harnessed till 2014. Ministry of new and renewable energy in India is also providing special incentives to hydro rich states of India. In this research article we are taken the case study of the small hydro projects in the western Himalayan region because theses states are having vast small hydro potential which is still needed to be harnessed. So, it is very important to identify the factors which are effecting the development of these small ventures especially in western Himalayan region in India.

English

This paper seeks to contribute to the local context and experiences on the resettlement policy and implementation management of the hydropower development projects based on documentary and policy review. The paper shows that, since the science of resettlement and rehabilitation is a new marginal science. There is no fixed mode in solving the problem of compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation and each nation, according to its own practical situation. Laos is naturally wealthy of rivers and water resources suitable for hydropower development for promoting economic growth and alleviating poverty. Nowadays, about 22 hydropower projects with totally installed capacity of 3,205 megawatts have been operated in the whole country. Recently, Nam Ngum 2 (NN2) Hydropower Project is the second biggest station with installed capacity of 615 MW. The NN2 project affected 16 rural villages, 1,099 households, 6,234 persons, 4 temples, 13 schools, 2 hospitals and also had environmental, social, cultural, economical, livelihood and resettlement impacts. For overcoming those issues, the preferable decree No. 192 on Compensation and Resettlement of Development Project, its technical guideline, and related policies is applied through infrastructure and housing reconstruction, community development, rehabilitation of livelihood, occupation and income generation and farmland and cash compensation. Key words: Hydropower, resettlement, policy, implementation, management, Laos.

Hydropower Development and Involuntary Displacement: Toward a Global Solution

This Note addresses the effects of hydropower development projects on displaced persons globally. This Note recognizes that the increasing global energy demand puts great strain on nations to provide their people with electricity, but it also suggests that sustainable energy development projects can be carried out in a way that is fair to the indigenous populations surrounding hydropower dams. The current global trend in involuntary displacement involves ignoring certain groups of affected persons while undercompensating directly displaced persons, leading to homelessness, social stigmatization, and extreme poverty for millions of people worldwide. Thus far, there has been no sufficient global solution to this displacement problem, as current solutions do not focus on rehabilitating the communities that lose everything for the construction of these projects. This Note suggests that individual nations must take responsibility for the displacement of indigenous populations in building hydropower development projects for the benefit of the nation, and an international actor, such as the World Bank, must use its resources and discretionary project funding to protect global human rights during the development of hydropower projects.

The impact of hydroelectric project development on the ethnobotany of the Alaknanda river basin of Western Himalaya, India

Background: This study focuses on the ethnoflora used by local communities in the Alaknanda river basin of Uttarakhand state in Western Himalaya, India. The objectives of the study were to collect ethnobotanical information, to assess the impact of hydropower projects on ethnoflora and to suggest conservation and management measures for the protection of ethnoflora. Material and Methods: A well-designed questionnaire based survey was conducted in the ten villages of the study area to collect ethnobotanical information. The conservation status of plants was also evaluated following the IUCN Red list, the Red Data Book of Indian Plants and the CITES criteria. Results: A total of 136 plant species belonging to 61 families and 112 genera were used by local communities for various ethnobotanical purposes. The majority of plant species were used for medicinal purposes (96 spp.), followed by fodder (46 spp.), wild edibles (31 spp.), fuel (29 spp.), timber (17 spp.), fish poison (9 spp.), agriculture implements (6 spp.), fibre (6 spp.), religious use (6 spp.) and handicraft (1 sp.). For the preparation of herbal medicine, rural people of the region use different parts of medicinal plants such as the whole plant (20%) followed by roots/rhizomes/tubers (20%), leaf (18%), fruit (10%), seed (9%), bark (9%), stem (6%), flowers (6%) and resin (2%). Conclusions: Development of hydropower projects will influence the diversity and distribution of ethnoflora in the region. Therefore, for the conservation of the ethnoflora of the area, conservation and management measures have been suggested.

Himalayan rock mass and possibility of limiting concrete lined pressure tunnel length in hydropower projects in the Himalaya

In recent past, the development activity in hydropower sector got momentum in the Himalayan region. However, the investment cost is considered considerably higher than in other part of the world, and there is a strong need to look for alternative solutions that reduces the investment cost. Civil engineering part of the costs is one of the major areas where cost reductions could be made by involving today's construction technology. As it is well known, the use of underground space, such as waterway tunnels, shafts, and underground caverns, are inevitable in the development of hydropower projects in the Himalaya. Finding innovative solutions in underground construction is therefore a key issue where cost reductions can be achieved to improve financial viability. It is highlighted here that the traditionally used fully concrete lined waterway system has proven to be costly solutions; therefore, innovative solutions are needed to reduce the fully concrete lined length of the pressure tunnels. However, applied solutions must guarantee long-term stability and sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and construction time savings. This paper presents some design considerations that could be used to reduce fully concrete lined tunnel length for low to medium pressure waterway tunnels. Adoption of such an approach will help reduce overall construction costs and times. However, one should make sure that the prevailing rock mass conditions and applied tunnel rock support consisting of sprayed concrete and systematic bolting are enough to secure long-term stability and safety of the waterway system.

The Characteristics of China's Hydropower Projects Overseas Investment Risk and Possible Countermeasures

In the sustained rapid growth of the international economy, foreign investment and international business is becoming the next mainstream context, China vigorously implement the "going out" strategy, encouraging foreign investment. With economic growth, the rapid growth of the world's water and electricity consumption are also in the growing strength of China's hydropower companies powerful premise, accelerate the development of hydropower projects overseas investment is an inevitable trend. This is not only of significance for the development of major hydropower companies, while the international operations of Chinese enterprises to China’s energy security, energy policy have far-reaching implications. But the ever-changing international situation and uncertainty investment host country's investment environment for foreign investment in hydropower projects risk assessment and prevention challenges. Hydropower projects overseas investment risks should not be underestimated, risk assessment and prevention of improper investment will bring huge losses. This paper studies the characteristics of China's hydropower projects overseas investment risks and prevention.

Evolutionary game analysis between immigration and developers: a case study of hydropower development project

Hydropower is a clean renewable energy because of rich water resources and great potential for its development in our country. Game payoff matrix between immigration and developers of hydropower development project shows that the best stable points or strategies is the dual high cost between immigration and developers of hydropower development project, which makes sure the success of hydropower development project. Our suggestion is improving immigrants’ compensation system to achieve the harmonious development between hydropower development project and society, broadening the fi nancing channels of hydropower development project, strengthening the government support and management of hydropower development, and promoting the orderly development of hydropower

Blue Gold for whom? Multi-level games in the development of Himalayan hydropower

The development of hydropower projects that bring about transboundary benefits is contingent on more than just an alignment of interests in direct negotiations. Factors exogenous to the negotiation process influence the positions each actor develops, and the priority it places on these positions vis-a-vis other national interests. States play multi-level games and are thus subject to the influence of domestic concerns, non-water related interests, global trends, pressures from non-state actors, and dynamics of transnational networks. In the case of India’s pursuit of energy security through the development of hydropower capacity in Nepal and Bhutan, the possibility of positive-sum outcomes has been affected by considerations on multiple socio-political levels. Both Nepal and Bhutan see the sale of their ‘blue gold’ to energy-hungry India as the key to socio-economic prosperity. Yet the alignment of interests between these three players has not created an even spread of mutual benefits. While Bhutan has strong domestic support for hydropower development and has succeeded in establishing a pattern of non-zero-sum thinking with India, Nepal’s water interactions with the hydro-hegemon remain mired by lack of domestic consensus, socio-political instability, and lock of political trust between the two countries.

Strong Genetic Differentiation of <i>Glytothorax zanaensis</i> (Wu et al. 1981) in Nu River, China

The Nu River Project comprised of 13-dam cascade is one of the biggest hydropower development projects yet conceived in China. However, hydropower development will inevitably result in the local ecological environment and biological material impact, particularly the effects on fish. Glyptothorax zainaensis is weak in swimming with suction cup and is extremely sensitive in the hydrological characteristics and water quality changes, so that it can be considered as a water quality monitor of indicator organism. Currently, with the need for conservation, fishery restoration and so on, there is a great demand for genetic information on Glyptothorax zainaensis. Fourty microsatellite loci were isolated, characterized and evaluated from Glyptothorax zainaensis. A total of 91 different alleles were observed in the 303 wild Glyptothorax zainaensis, and the percentage of polymorphic bands ranged from 41.8% to 66.7%, with an average of 90.1%. The genetic diversity value was significantly huge with the expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.578 to 0.706, the observed heterozygosity value ranging from 0.923 to 0.980 and PIC value ranging from 0.418 to 0.644, which showed that the wild Glyptothorax zainaensis population had a high level of genetic diversity. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and pairwise Fst showed a significant level of genetic differentiation (P

Opportunities and Eco-environmental Influence of Cascade Hydropower Development and Water Diversion Projects in Hanjiang River Basin

Abstract Hanjiang river is the longest river in Yangtze river basin, having high economic importance to China for its economically exploitable hydropower and potential water resources. In an attempt to satisfy China’s economic and social development needs, the Chinese government has established cascade dams and four relative water diversion projects in Hanjiang river, which aims at transferring water from south (Hanjiang river) to north (water-stricken areas). However, there are increasing eco-environmental concerns associated with the establishment and development of cascade hydropower. In this study, the opportunities and eco-environmental influences related to Hanjiang river’s cascade hydropower development are explored and then recommendations are put forward to minimize the potential impacts. The implementation of vigorous projects related to hydropower and water diversion has an important role to play in solving flood, energy and water shortage problems. In addition, the eco-environmental and socio-economic impacts on the middle and downstream and its diversion can be relieved to some degree in the area. However, the establishment of projects can cause several impacts on the local eco-environment. First, Danjiangkou reservoir construction can cause change in water flow, water bloom, soil erosion in the river basin. Second, it can directly lead to the decrease of 10.5 billion cubic meters of water in the middle- and downstream areas, threatening the local supply of drinking water and influencing farming irrigation and industrial production. Finally, the construction of cascade hydropower dams can change the water form and fish stocks may reduce threatening eco-environment security and environmental geology.