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The use of public participation and economic appraisal for public involvement in large-scale hydropower projects: Case study of the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project

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  • Mirumachi, Naho
  • Torriti, Jacopo

Abstract

Gaining public acceptance is one of the main issues with large-scale low-carbon projects such as hydropower development. It has been recommended by the World Commission on Dams that to gain public acceptance, public involvement is necessary in the decision-making process (WCD, 2000). As financially-significant actors in the planning and implementation of large-scale hydropower projects in developing country contexts, the paper examines the ways in which public involvement may be influenced by international financial institutions. Using the case study of the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Laos, the paper analyses how public involvement facilitated by the Asian Development Bank had a bearing on procedural and distributional justice. The paper analyses the extent of public participation and the assessment of full social and environmental costs of the project in the Cost-Benefit Analysis conducted during the project appraisal stage. It is argued that while efforts were made to involve the public, there were several factors that influenced procedural and distributional justice: the late contribution of the Asian Development Bank in the project appraisal stage; and the issue of non-market values and discount rate to calculate the full social and environmental costs.

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  • Mirumachi, Naho & Torriti, Jacopo, 2012. "The use of public participation and economic appraisal for public involvement in large-scale hydropower projects: Case study of the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 125-132.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:47:y:2012:i:c:p:125-132
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.034
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    3. Yu, Bing & Xu, Linyu, 2016. "Review of ecological compensation in hydropower development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 729-738.
    4. Andrea K. Chareunsy, 2015. "Is there a Pareto solution to the misaligned incentives and competing objectives of water grabbing in the Lao PDR?," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 29(2), pages 85-96, November.
    5. Frauke Urban & Johan Nordensvard & Giuseppina Siciliano & Bingqin Li, 2015. "Chinese Overseas Hydropower Dams and Social Sustainability: The Bui Dam in Ghana and the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 573-589, September.
    6. Fadzilah Majid Cooke & Johan Nordensvard & Gusni Bin Saat & Frauke Urban & Giuseppina Siciliano, 2017. "The Limits of Social Protection: The Case of Hydropower Dams and Indigenous Peoples' Land," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 437-450, September.
    7. Sarrica, Mauro & Biddau, Fulvio & Brondi, Sonia & Cottone, Paolo & Mazzara, Bruno M., 2018. "A multi-scale examination of public discourse on energy sustainability in Italy: Empirical evidence and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 444-454.
    8. Rana Pratap Singh & Hans Peter Nachtnebel & Nadejda Komendantova, 2020. "Deployment of Hydropower in Nepal: Multiple Stakeholders’ Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-17, August.
    9. Siciliano, Giuseppina & Urban, Frauke & Kim, Sour & Dara Lonn, Pich, 2015. "Hydropower, social priorities and the rural–urban development divide: The case of large dams in Cambodia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 273-285.
    10. Ian G. Baird & Bruce P. Shoemaker & Kanokwan Manorom, 2015. "The People and their River, the World Bank and its Dam: Revisiting the Xe Bang Fai River in Laos," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(5), pages 1080-1105, September.
    11. A. S. Puryaev, 2018. "Non-economic Characteristics for the Accounting in Projects’ Appraisal," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 3), pages 177-187.
    12. Jenkins, Kirsten & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & McCauley, Darren, 2018. "Humanizing sociotechnical transitions through energy justice: An ethical framework for global transformative change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 66-74.

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