Discovering many violations
In the recent period, through inspection and review, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the People's Committees of the provinces have eliminated nearly 500 hydropower projects that are likely to have a negative impact on the environment, society and have low economic efficiency. However, during the construction and operation process, many small hydropower plants still leave consequences.
According to PV's research, in the period of 2005 - 2021, Ha Giang province approved the planning of more than 70 hydropower projects (after eliminating 27 projects in 2013) with a total capacity of 1062.8 MW. Most of these are small hydropower plants with a capacity of less than 10 MW.
After a period of massive development, in addition to the economic benefits, small hydropower projects in Ha Giang have revealed many shortcomings and violations right from the construction process to exploitation and operation.
At the end of 2019, after inspecting and reviewing projects in the area, the People's Committee of Ha Giang province pointed out a series of hydropower plants that do not have a surface water exploitation license and have not yet approved a response plan to emergency situations. Some hydropower plants released water en masse, causing landslides on production sites and traffic routes.
Many hydropower plants do not comply with regulations on maintaining minimum water flow when storing water, leading to dry rivers and streams, seriously affecting the environment, ecology and livelihoods of people.
Currently, in addition to 41 projects in operation, in Ha Giang province, there are still many small hydropower projects that have been granted investment policies but are behind schedule, even abandoned.
To clarify the contents of the management, inspection and handling of violations of hydropower projects in the area, on February 14, 2025, the reporter went to the Department of Industry and Trade of Ha Giang province to request information. However, up to now, many days have passed but the Department of Industry and Trade of Ha Giang province has not responded.
Hydropower plants store water, rivers dry up
In Bac Kan province, there are 15 hydropower projects in the planning, most of which are small hydropower plants with a total capacity of 68 MW. Up to now, there are still 5 projects behind schedule compared to the approved policy (hotline: Pac Nam, My Thanh, Kim Lu, Khuoi Noc and Thac Gieng 2).
The Thac Gieng 1 hydropower plant has been in operation since early 2021, causing the Cau River to frequently dry up. The plant's water storage and discharge have directly affected the natural flow of the Cau River and almost disabled the operation of the hydrological station.
A representative of Thac Gieng Hydrological Station said that the entire system of monitoring investment in automatic equipment of the station has been almost "shelved" since Thac Gieng 1 Hydropower Plant collected water and generated electricity.
"The water level of the Cau River at the monitoring device station is always very low, many places have exposed the bottom, especially when the hydropower plant accumulates water, the flow is almost stationary. More than ten billion VND is invested in station equipment and is at risk of being wasted," informed a representative of Thac Gieng Hydrological Station.
Speaking with reporters, Mr. Ha Sy Thang - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Kan province said that the Department has organized a field inspection and advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue a document directing Thac Gieng 1 hydropower plant to strictly implement the reservoir operation process and maintain minimum flow.
"Currently, hydropower plants in the province have installed automatic monitoring systems for minimum flow and data is transmitted directly to the Department of Water Resources - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for management and supervision," Mr. Thang informed.
Regarding the violation of the regulation on maintaining the minimum flow of hydropower plants, Mr. Luu Ba Mac, National Assembly Delegate of Lang Son province, said that there is still a situation where hydropower plants are not really interested in ensuring the maintenance of the minimum flow on the river in accordance with regulations.
"Some places even deliberately do not implement, leading to the problem of water in the downstream of some dry hydropower works, negatively affecting the development of biodiversity, as well as tourism development," said Mr. Mac.
