Electrical industry of burma/myanmar

Topographic map reference: Burma 1:250,000: Series U542, U.S. Army Map: NF 47-02: Hsenwi

upstream from the Tarpa bridge dam near Ta-hö-hkao (23° 51' N, 98° 25' E), grid square reference 7\7, 39\3, and a mile above the Kunlong bridge , near Man Tongkep (23° 25' N, 98° 36' E), grid square reference 7\1, 39\6. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/burma/txu-oclc-6924198-nf47-2.jpg

http://www.burmariversnetwork.org/images/stories/publications/english/salween_watch_vol2.pdf

A map showing the location of the Ton Gyap hydropower project can be found in Vol 2, No 1, of the Salween Watch Newsletter, p 3. The accompanying comment on this project makes no reference to the original proposal to construct a second dam and power station at a location upstream from the Ton Gyap site.

Additional References
Data summary: Kunlong

Tapar
NLM, 07/03/10. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs08/NLM2010-03-07.pdf

From a report to a meeting of the Special Projects Implementation Cte: The EPM-1 has the Upper Thanlwin (Kunglong) hydropower project that will generate 1400 megawatts under planning and development.

NLM, 26/02/10. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs08/NLM2010-02-26.pdf

Hanergy Holding Group Limited (Hanergy) and Goldwater Resources Limited (GRL) of the PRC signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Dept of Hydropower Planning of EPM-1 on 25/02/10. Following an address by EPM-1 Zaw Min, Chairman & CEO of the Hanergy Holding Group Ltd, Li Hejun spoke words of thanks. Among those present on the occasion was Director Chua Chay Jin of of Goldwater Resources Ltd. Signing the agreement were D-G Kyee Soe of the Dept of Hydropower Planning and Hanenergy Chairman Li Hejun.

Shan Sapawa Environment Organization, Roots and Resilience, p 44 (July 2009).

http://salweenwatch.org/images/stories/downloads/campaigns/rootsandresilienceenglish.pdf

The Upper Kunlong dam site is on the mainstream of the Salween at Ton Gyap village in Kunlong township about 25 km from the Yunnan border. A team of Chinese and Burmese technicians has been conducting feasiblility studies including the collection of geological samples,

CHECC Website, 11 March 2008. http://www.checc.cn/news/news.jsp?type=100&new_id=7254&target=

China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group Co (CHECC), Kunming Hydroelectric Investigation Design & Research Institute (KHIDI), and China Hanergy Holdings Group (CHHG, formerly China Farsighted Investment Group) met in Beijing in March 2008 to discuss the feasibility of the Kunlon dam project on the mainstream of the Salween River approximately 25 km from the Chinese border at Qingshuihe Port [Chinshwehaw]. [The text is in Chinese characters. This reference and translation was made available courtesy of the Burma team of Earthrights Intenational. For more information see ERI’s China in Burma: The increasing investment of Chinese multinational corporations in Burma's hydropower, oil and natural gas, and mining sectors (September 2008).]

http://www.earthrights.org/files/Reports/China%20in%20Burma%20-%20BACKGROUNDER%20-%202008%20Update%20-%20FINAL.pdf
Yunnan Province Overseas Operations Statistics Jan – Sep 2007). Department of Commerce of Yunnan Province Website, 22 October 2007.

http://www.bofcom.gov.cn/bofcom/433477000347254784/20071022/167375.html

The Department of Commerce of Yunnan Province reports that the Kunming Hydroelectric Investigation Design & Research Institute (KHIDI) signed agreements with Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power for US$ 5,270,000 in September 2007. The reference is in Chinese characters. For further information see ERI’s China in Burma: The increasing investment of Chinese multinational corporation in Burma's hydropower, oil and natural gas, and mining sectors (September 2008).

NLM, 13/06/07. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/07nlm/n070613.htm

While in the PRC, EPM No 1 Zaw Min and EPM No 2 Khin Maung Myint visited the 2400-MW Gingchaung hydro-power project being implemented by the Farsighted Co in Lijiang, Yunnan province, where they met with Chairman Li Hejun and discussed matters related to the upper Thanlwin hydropower project and the connection of power lines.

NLM, 20/05/07. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/07nlm/n070520.htm

At Kunlon, Gen Kyaw Win of the MoD meets senior military officers of Kunlon and Laukkai Stations, local leaders and Chinese technicians conducting a feasibility study for the Upper Thanlwin hydropower project. North-east Commander Gen Aung Than Htut reports on a scale model of the 2,400-MW hydropower station and Lt-Col Maung Maung Myint of Kunlon Station on the choice of site for the project.

Kyaw Thu, Myanmar Times, 14/05/07. [Issue 366 of the MT is not available on-line.]

A decision on whether one or two hydropower projects will be built on the upper Thanlwin River in Myanmar will be made when a feasibility report is completed in 2008, an official from the EPM-1 said on May 8. The MoU signed on April 5 was to build a hydropower dam that will produce 2400 MW of electricity. But the ministry official said it remained to be decided if the groups would go ahead with a second dam, as the number of dams was not specified in the original MoU. “We will make a decision after finishing the report,” he said, adding that this would be about a year away. The Chinese side had already proposed two projects between the towns of Konkyan and Kunlon in Shan State, one capable of generating 1160 MW and the other 1240 MW, the ministry official said.

NLM, 20/04/07. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/07nlm/n070420.htm

General Than Shwe stresses the need to implement the Upper Thanlwin project in the Kunlon region of Shan state as soon as possible.

NLM, 25/03/07. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/07nlm/n070325.htm

Report to the SPIC: The Upper Thanlwin hydel power project will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will be implemented on the Thanlwin river, a mile upstream of the Tarpa bridge in Kunlon township with a power plant of 1,160 MW. The second phases will be upstream of the confluence of Nanin creek and the Thanlwin. The power plant there will generate 1,240 MW.

China Southern Power Grid website, 28/12/06. http://www.yndw.com/showinfo.asp?id=37407

Message in Chinese characters under the heading: 'Survey Group Completes On-site Upper Salween River Survey'. Text of the message: Yunnan Power Grid Co. and Mid-South Design and Research Institute (CHECC) surveyed a 147-km section of the upper Salween River in December, 2006 .

==================================================================================
MYANMAR, THAILAND BEGIN WORK ON CONTROVERSIAL TASANG DAM

AFP, 05/04/07. www.burmanet.org/news/2007/04/05/

Myanmar and Thailand have begun building a controversial hydro-power dam on the Salween River, the as yet longest undammed waterway in south-east Asia, official media reported Thursday. Thailand's MDX Group Co Ltd has invested about six billion dollars in the Tasang project in eastern Shan State, which is the biggest of four planned dams on the Salween. The state-run New Light of Myanmar said construction began on March 30 -- a move likely to dismay environmentalists who had called for a delay to allow a public consultation on the project.
Activists say the dams could prove disastrous to Salween's delicate ecosystem and accuse Myanmar's military junta of using the dams as an excuse to evict thousands of ethnic minority villagers from their land. NLM said the dam, located about 45 miles (75km) from the Thai border in southern Shan state, would be 2,848 ft (868 m) long and 746 ft (227 m) high. "On completion, generators to be installed at the power station will have a total capacity of 7,110 MW and the project is expected to produce 35,446 million kWh yearly, the newspaper said. Senior officials from Myanmar's state-run energy firms and MDX Group attended an official opening ceremony.
Three more dams on the Salween near the Thai-Myanmar border are in the pipeline, mostly backed by Chinese state-owned energy companies. The United States and Europe have economic sanctions against military-run Myanmar to punish them for the ongoing detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other human rights abuses. But energy-hungry neigh+bours like Thailand, China and India are keen to exploit the country's abundant natural resources including energy, natural gas and timber, throwing an economic lifeline to the military junta.
Website references:

Aaron T. Wolf and Joshua T. Newton, Case Study of Transboundary Dispute Resolution: Salween River, (Oregon State University, 2007)

http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/research/case_studies/Salween_New.htm

“China, Myanmar, and Thailand do not yet have an agreement on the use of the Nu/ Salween river, thus allowing each of them free use of the river. Each of these countries has unilateral plans to construct dams and development projects along the Salween, but these sets of plans are not compatible.” Includes a case summary, a brief presentation of the problem, a statement on the issues involved, a map of the Nu/Salween river basin, a table on features of the river. Especially useful is a timeline section summarizing plans by the three countries to develop hydropower projects on the Nu/Salween.

http://www.gzbgj.com/english/article.asp?id=823

This website provides a brief introduction to the China Gezhouba Group Corporation which has been involved in the construction of over 100 large hydroelectric projects in the PRC and in many parts of the developing world, as well as nuclear and thernal power projects and other engineering and construction projects for almost forty years.

Map references:

Several maps of the area where the Tasang dam will be located are available in Warning Signs: An Update on Plans to Dam the Salween in Shan State, (Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization [SAPAWA], 2006). See the maps on pp 7, 11, 16, 22, 23 and especially 24 which shows the area that will be flooded if the dam is built to the proposed height of 224m. http://salweenwatch.org/downloads/warning%20sign.pdf

See also the map on the Shanland website: http://www.shanland.org/environment/2004/Dam_on_the_Salween_definitely_on.htm
Burma 1:250,000: Series U542, U.S. Army Map: NF 47-14: Mong Pan

Tasang dam, near Wan Kawpa [20° 31' N, 98° 38' E], grid square reference: 11\8, 28\4

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/burma/txu-oclc-6924198-nf47-14.jpg
Additional references
Data summary: Tasang

See above: ‘Chinese firm takes 51% interest in Tasang hydropower project’ (MT: 19/11/07)

‘EGAT agreed only to study feasibility of Salween project’ (BKKP: 10/06/07)
Thailand Burma Border Consortium, Internal Displacement in Eastern Burma: 2007 Survey, October 2007. http://www.tbbc.org/idps/2007-idp-english.pdf [doc 38]

The Ta Hsang dam in Mong Pan remains the largest single project to have caused development-induced displacement in southern Shan State, given that 30,000 people have already been forced to leave their homes.

Platts Myanmar Country Energy Profile [mid-2007]. For access information, see Power Profile.

In April 1998, Germany's Lahmeyer International finished a project pre-feasibility study for the Tasang dam and hydroelectric project on the Salween (Thanlwin) River. In December 1998, Japan's Electric Power Development Co (EPDC) (now J-Power) received a $796,000 contract from GMS Power Public Co Ltd (GMS) for a feasibility study of what was then planned as a 3,300-MW plant. This study was finished at the end of 2000. In May 2002, it was reported that a soil survey team from Thailand's MDX Co, the parent of GMS, was working in the Tasang area. With a proposed height of 230m, the 870-m- long dam would be the highest in southeast Asia and the first dam to be built on the mainstream of the Salween. It is opposed by both environmental groups and human rights activists. In April 2006, the Myanmar EPM signed a development agreement for the US$ 6-billion project with MDX with completion scheduled around 2020. In April 2007, the official Myanmar media reported that implementation was underway for Tasang, now listed at 7,110 MW. The site in southern Shan state is 53 km west of Mongton and 480 km northeast of Yangon. Tasang is a joint venture of Myanmar’s EPM, together with MDX, Ratchaburi Co, and CH.Karnchang Co of Thailand and China's Gezhouba Water and Power Group Co Ltd. Annual output is expected to be 35 TWh. Electricity from the plant is mostly designated for export to Thailand with some to be supplied in Myanmar. The actual status of plant construction is unknown.

Shan Herald, 05/07/07 http://www.bnionline.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1977&Itemid=6

Construction of the Salween-Tasang dam by the MDX Co has ground to a halt because of incessant rain which began with the onset of monsoon in early June. The Salween has overflowed its banks leading to the stoppage. Twenty on-site construction workers have not gone back home. They are housed along with construction materials in two big warehouses on Tang Pa Laung hill, 50 yds east of the construction site. “Bamboos and pipes have been put under the digging hole near both sides of the Salween River bank.” Soil from the digs is brought by boat to Tasang. The construction site in Tang Pa Laung port is 15 minutes from Salween-Tasang bridge by boat and 20 minutes from Ta Hsar Lar village on the east side of the Salween by car. Loi Hsai mountain is located on the west side of the Salween opposite Tang Pa Laung.

Michael Casey, AP, 12/04/07. http://salween-watch2.livejournal.com/2007/04/12/

Thousands of villagers could be displaced and a fragile ecosystem destroyed by Tasang hydropower project on Salween River, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) said today. WWF claims damming the Salween will ‘displace and negatively impact upon tens of thousands of poor and marginalized people from ethnic minorities in that country’. “The Salween is the only free-flowing river linking the Himalayan glaciers to the coastline of the Andaman Sea,’ said a statement from Robert Mather of the WWF's Living Mekong Program. "We are destroying the Salween before we even know what we're losing," Mather said. "From what little we do know about its large number of endemic fish species and abundance of freshwater turtles, we can conclude it is likely to be globally exceptional." A Myanmar gov’t spokesman, Ye Htut, said the dam site is in a remote area and "very few people will need to be relocated for the hydro project." "The Myanmar government will use every means to limit (the) environmental effect," he said. "But we should not forget that industrialized countries have caused more damage to the environment then developing countries and have given very little assistance to environmental conservation works in developing countries."

International Waterpower & Dam Construction, 11/04/07. http://www.waterpowermagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=130&storyCode=2043576

Construction works on the project will involve building a 876m long, 230m high concrete dam, and two 8m diameter tunnels the longest of which will be 1.2km long.

NLM, 05/04/07. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/07nlm/n070405.htm

A ground breaking ceremony for the Tar-hsan hydropower project on the Thanlwin [Salween] river in eastern Shan state took place on 30 March. HPID and MDX Group Co Ltd are implementing the project, 33 miles west of Mongton, in a joint venture. Deputy EPM No 1 Myo Myint, Deputy D-G of HPID Win Kyi and Dr Subin Pinkayan of MDX cut the ribbon to launch the project. The concrete dam will be 2,848 ft long and 746 ft high. The generators installed at the power station will have a total capacity of 7,110 MW and the project is expected to produce 35,446 million kWh yearly. Also present on the occasion were officials of Ratchaburi Co [Egat Holding Plc], http://www.ratch.co.th/eng/home.aspx, CH.Karnchang Plc http://www.ch-karnchang.co.th/ and China Gezhouba Water & Power Group Co Ltd http://www.gzbgj.com/ that hold shares in the project.

Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization, 29/03/07. http://www.salweenwatch.org/March29_SAPAWA_PressRelease_Eng.html

At least 400 villagers, including schoolchildren, from Mongton and Mongpan are being trucked to a ceremony to launch construction of the Tasang Dam at the dam-site, where they are being forced to welcome high-ranking Burmese military officials arriving by helicopter. Those attending the 'celebration' include villagers already forcibly relocated from their homes north of the dam-site. In the past ten years, the Burma Army has relocated over 60,000 villagers from areas adjoining the dam site and the projected flood zone. “These villagers have already been driven at gunpoint from their homes and lands. Now they are being forced to clap and cheer while MDX joins hands with their oppressors to construct a dam that will flood their homes for ever,” said Sapawa spokesperson Sai Sai. “MDX has been working in this area for almost ten years. How can they be so blinded by profit that they don’t see the abuses going on around them?” MDX has turned to China for investors in the project. Increased Chinese involvement was highlighted earlier this month, when the China Gezhouba Group announced on March 15 that it had won a contract for part of the initial dam construction. Recent reports have indicated that the Yunnan Power Grid Corp has also visited the dam site.

China Gezhouba Co website information, 15/03/07 http://www.gzbgj.com/article.asp?id=749

A four-line news release in Mandarin titled: 'News of Victory from Burmese Market Developments'. The China Gezhouba (Group) Co (CGGC) received a notice from the Burma Tasang Hydropower Co stating that CGGC had won a bid to construct the diversion tunnel for the Tasang C2R hydropower plant. Since its 2005 entry into the Burmese market, the China Gezhouba (Group) Co. has relied on its strength, outstanding achievement, and good reputation, to win a succession of bidding projects and become Burma's most welcomed Chinese company. The Tasang 7260-MW C2R hydropower plant diversion tunnel project follows CGGC's work on the Yeywa and Piaoliang projects. This project is located at the middle section of the Salween River, and over the course of 32 months will involve the construction of two 8m diameter tunnels for a total length of 1,200m. This project is wholly undertaken by the company.

Myanmar Times, 02/10/06. [Issue 336 of the MT is not available on-line.]

Myanmar’s HPID and Thailand’s MDX Group will form a J-V to undertake construction of the Tasang hydropower project, an official from EPM No 1 said last week. “We expect to form a J-V before the end of the year,” said the official, who requested not to be named. The Tasang project, to be built on the Thanlwin River in Shan State, will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Myanmar and the biggest Thai investment in the country. The ministry official said plans for the power plant had been finalised and tenders from companies seeking to provide construction materials for the project would be called for as soon as the joint venture company was formed. Myanmar’s Hongpang General Trading Co Ltd had already expressed interest in participating in the project, the official said. HPID was currently building accommodation for workers employed on the project, he said, adding that the project would employ some 15,000 people over the course of its construction. The Tasang project would take place in several phases, with a 200-MW plant being built first. “Firstly we will build diversion channels from the Thanlwin River and we will produce 200 MW from this,” he said, adding that this approach of building a smaller power plant first was very rare in such projects. The smaller power plant would be operational in two or three years, he said. Work on the Tasang project started a decade ago and a pre-feasibility study commenced in October 1997 with Lahmeyer International GmbH of Germany as consultant.

Warning Signs: An Update on Plans to Dam the Salween in Shan State, (Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization [SAPAWA], 2006). http://salweenwatch.org/images/stories/downloads/publications/warning%20sign.pdf

This 32-page booklet provides useful background for an understanding of the area in which the Tasang dam will be built and developments prior to publication in 2006. It includes details about the military build-up and security operations, logging operations, forced removal of villages and environmental issues related to the proposed construction of the dam. Maps and pictures accompany the text.

AP, 20/05/06. http://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=9&art_id=19647&sid=8151732&con_type=1&d_str=20060530

In 2002, the ADB studied the Tasang dam as part of a master plan for a regional power grid. But it backed away, voicing "serious socio-environmental concerns." Rajat Nag, who heads the bank's Mekong Dept, says: "It didn't pass our first filter. The dam would have a profound impact on the Salween river. The project would fragment a fragile river ecosystem, reduce the flow of nutrients and water downstream and reduce the biodiversity. Deforestation is likely and would lead to soil erosion in the rainy season which would exacerbate flood damage."

NLM, 21/06/06. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/06nlm/n060621.htm

At the site of the Tarhsan hydel power project on the Thanlwin River between Mongpan and Mongton townships, V-P Noppon Prapaitrakul of the MDX Group reported to EPM No 1 Zaw Min on progress of the project and future tasks. The minister gave instructions on environmental conservation, the health and social needs of local employees and worksite safety. Then the minister inspected a scale model of the project site and the sites for the embankment, two diversion tunnels and the hydel power plants, as well as construction of the staff quarters, offices and the road. Next, the minister and party oversaw completion of a 150-kW hydel power station near Wamsala Village. The preliminary engineering works of the project commenced in the early 2004. The plan includes construction of a 200-MW power plant in the first phase, three 771-MW plants in the second phase, and seven 771-MW plants in the third phase. On completion, the project will generate 7,310 megawatts.

NLM, 04/04/06. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/06nlm/n060404.htm

A joint-venture agreement on the Tasang hydropower project between the DHP of the EPM and the MDX Group of Thailand was signed in Yangon today (03/04/06). The project will be implemented on the Thanlwin [Salween] river in southern Shan state. About US$6,000 million will be injected into the project which is expected to have a generating capacity of 7,110 MW. “It will supply a certain amount of electricity free to areas in Myanmar and the rest will be sold to Thailand.” D-G Win Kyaw of the DHP and ED Roy Jutabha of the MDX Group inked the agreement on the joint venture. Pre-engineering tasks of the project, which is expected to completed within 15 years, started in early 2004.

NLM, 21/12/02. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/02nlm/n021221.htm

An agreement between the Dept of Hydel Power of the MEP and the MDX Group of Thailand on construction of the Tasang hydel power plant on the Thanlwin river was signed at the International Business Centre in Yangon this morning (20/12/02). Director-General U Win Kyaw of HPD and Managing Director Swarng Champa of MDX explained matters related to the project. The plant, which will be capable of generating 7,110 megawatts on completion, is to be constructed on the Thanlwin river. The first phase of the project includes installation of three 711-MW generators with other equipment to be installed every year. Electricity generated from the plant is to be sold to Thailand and the south-east Asia region. Power will be supplied for local use in accord with the ratio of shares held by Myanmar. The agreement to set up a joint-venture company is an important step in the implementation of the project.

BKK Post, 18/12/02. www.burmalibrary.org/TinKyi/archives/2002-12/msg00021.html

The Thai Senate foreign affairs panel has called on EGAT and MDX Plc, a construction group, to scrap projects to build dams on the Salween river in Burma, citing concerns for national security and image. Panel chairman Kraisak Choonhavan said the projects would lead to more human rights violations in Burma, thus forcing more oppressed Burmese people to seek refuge in Thailand. Thailand already had to deal with more than four million illegal Burmese immigrants. If the government gave the projects the go-ahead, the problem of illegal labour and refugees would worsen, the senator said. The Senate would raise the issue with PM Thaksin Shinawatra, the Foreign Ministry and EGAT, he added. Nassir Archwarin, of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, said the dams would destroy one of south-east Asia's richest river ecosystems. The Salween was the lifeline of more than 10 million people in 13 ethnic groups, he added. Mr Nassir yesterday handed a petition to Mr Kraisak calling on the Senate to stop the government and agencies concerned from supporting the projects. The petition was backed by Burma's opposition NLD party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as 69 Thai and Burmese NGOs working on environment and human rights issues.

Shan Herald, 25/05/02.

http://www.shanland.org/environment/2002/dam_on_the_salween_project_reviv.htm/

The New Era Journal, in its May issue, reports the revival of the Tasang hydroelectric dam on the Salween. It said that a soil survey team from Thailand's MDX Co was in Tasang on 16 April. A recent report reaching the S.H.A.N. supports this claim. It told of the arrival of a Myanmar-Thai Joint River-course Survey Project in Mongton, 60-miles north of the Chiangmai border on 16 April. The 36-man team brought 3 motor vehicles, 146 items of equipment and 10 ICOM radio transmitters with them. Two LIBs have been assigned for security. Another source confirmed that the MDX had "indeed returned" after securing the assistance of Somkid Onman (aka Sia Ord) of the Thai Saward Co, whose 13 year experience of working in the area were considered to be an asset. Exploration of the Salween began in 1997 by GMS Power, a subsidiary of MDX, and continued until the end of 2000.

Snow Mountains Engineering Corp (SMEC) website.

http://www.smec.com.au/countryexp/pdf/Myanmar_Burma.pdf

Between 2002 – 2003, SMEC undertook the design and documentation of the electrical and mechanical works for a low head plant which had been investigated in earlier studies as an early generation facility to utilise water from the diversion tunnels during construction of the Ta Sang project. Services included detailed design of the E&M plant for a 4 x 50 MW low head plant, including optimisation of project layout; determination of design parameters and selection of main plant items; concept design of a 132-kV GIS switchyard; preparation of tender documents and drawings for all E&M works; and liaison with associate firm (Colenco) on civil works design and drawings.

Snow Mountains Engineering Corp (SMEC) website.

http://www.smec.com.au/countryexp/pdf/Myanmar_Burma.pdf

Consulting services for tender design and documentation of the 6,400-MW Tasang hydropower project was awarded by Siam Power and Electric Co Ltd to the association of Colenco Power Engineering Ltd and SMEC, with SMEC primarily responsible for the power station, covering both the civil works and electrical and mechanical plant. From 2001-2004, services provided included a review of the feasibility study, power system studies encompassing both the Thailand and Myanmar HV electrical transmission systems, preparation of an Inception Report, reservoir operation studies, preparation of Interim Report detailing conceptual design and recommended development, and preparation of tender design, specifications and tender documentation for the power station civil works and electrical and mechanical plant including turbines, generators, and electrical and mechanical auxiliary plant.

Images Asia, November 1999. www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/SW03.htm

Tasang hydropower project studies have been carried out by GMS Power Plc and consultants working for it. GMS Power is a subsidiary of the MDX Group, an influential Thai holding company that includes former senior MP's and ex-directors of EGAT. MDX is also involved in dam projects in Laos, Cambodia and Yunnan. According to leaked documents, GMS signed a contract with the Myanmar Economic Corp (MEC) in September 1997. It then subcontracted Lahmeyer International, a German consulting engineering firm, to assist with a pre-feasibility study. The GMS reps are quoted as saying the desk, reconnaissance and pre-feasibility studies were done at the same time, starting from November 1997. This study was completed and submitted in April 1998. The Electric Power Development Corp of Japan (EPDC) was contracted to carry out (or assist with) a feasibility study. According to GMS sources, this feasiblity study was done between Oct 1998 and Mar 1999. This is borne out by local and NGO observers who reported that Thai, Japanese and other foreigners visited the Tasang site and carried out sampling activities during this time, although they did not stay long.

Images Asia, 12/01/99. [not available on-line]

Surveying for the Tasang dam on the Salween River in Shan State is seriously underway. The first reports started arriving in Oct 1998. The main company involved is MDX Power, whose staff were crossed the Thai border at Nong Ook (up from Chiang Dao in northern Chiang Mai prov) and travelled by road to the Salween River north-west of Mongton. Further reports received in Dec 1998 and early Jan 1999 have confirmed that the dam is being planned for the Tasang area above the place where a major bridge is being built across the river at Tasang. There is a heavy Burmese military presence in the area. The survey area covers a distance about one-and-a-half hours by boat south of the confluence of the Nam Hsim river with the Salween and north of the village of Wansala. The site where most of the survey activities are being carried out is where the Salween passes through a steep gorge. The surveyors, assisted by Burmese army engineers have begun dynamiting and drilling a number of deep holes into the rocks at the base of the gorge and along the river. Teams including about 20 Japanese have been travelling together with Thai staff from MDX by road and boat to the dam site. Security is provided by the Burmese army. The dam is ostensibly being planned to divert water from the Salween into Thailand, as well as to produce electricity for Thailand and Burma. It is said that it could produce an estimated 3,700 megawatts of electricity. Dr Subin Pinkayan, a senior MDX advisor and former government minister, has approached the Shan opposition not to obstruct the survey activities. The logging company Thai Sawat, which has held concessions in the area since the late '80's, is closely co-operating with MDX in the survey.

==================================================================================