From June 13th to 26th, 2019, the Workshop on Construction & Safety Management of Hydropower Stations and Dams for Lancang-Mekong Countries was successfully held in China. 33 officials and technical experts from Mekong countries, i.e. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, attended the 2-week workshop in Hangzhou, Nanjing and Yichang.
The workshop was an important part of the project Technology Sharing and Capacity Building on Hydropower Station and Dam Safety Management in Lancang-Mekong Countries, which aims to strengthen the construction and safety management of hydropower stations and dams, as well as to improve the capability of disaster prevention and mitigation. It was jointly organized by Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center (LM Water), Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI), Dam Safety Management Center (DSMC) under the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), and NHRI Rural Electrification Department (Hangzhou Regional Center (Asia-Pacific) for Small Hydropower, HRC), and technical lectures, field trips and experience exchanges were carried out. The workshop covered the training courses including Dam Construction and Safety Management in China, Dam Risk Assessment Methods for Reservoir Dams, Disease Diagnoses and Cases of Reservoir Dams, Dam Safety Monitoring Technology, Development and Safety Management of Hydropower in the Main Stream of the Yangtze River, Design and Safety Standards of Typical Hydraulic Structures, etc. In addition, the participants made reports on hydropower station and dam safety management of their own countries, respectively. They also toured NHRI Tiexinqiao Water Experiment Center and the Three Gorges Project.
With the common aspiration of “Share the water, share the future”, representatives from the Lancang-Mekong countries signed the Cooperation Initiative on Dam Safety Management. With all learning tasks done, the participants gained not only advanced technology and experiences of dam construction and management but also deep friendship.
On June 26th, the workshop closing ceremony was held in Hangzhou. Mr. LIU Heng, Senior Technical Adviser of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Mr. ZHONG Yong, Director-General of LM Water, Mr. JING Maotao, Deputy Director-General of DSMC, and Mr. XU Jincai, Deputy Director-General of HRC, attended the ceremony and delivered training certificates to the participants. Mr. MIN Oo, Deputy Director of Department of Hydropower Implementation, Ministry of Electricity and Energy of Myanmar, gave a speech on behalf of all the participants. He extended his sincere thanks to MWR and other supporting organizations, spoke highly of the workshop from the aspects of lectures, study tours, exchanges, and hoped to further deepen the friendship and cooperation among the Lancang-Mekong Countries. Representatives from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand also expressed that they would serve as bridges for future cooperation on hydropower station and dam safety, and contribute to the people’s welfare in the Lancang-Mekong countries.