Doing A Dam Better

The Nam Theun 2 (NT2) dam project in the Lao People's Democratic Republic marked the return of international financiers to the business of funding large-scale hydropower in an untested country setting. NT2 was able to improve on the experiences of previous hydropower projects, thanks to its focus on due diligence, smart management, effective communications, and technical expertise. Consequently it provides a rich set of lessons for developing complex infrastructure projects financed through public-private partnerships in less developed countries.

Doing a Dam Better chronicles the challenges facing the NT2 project, including the anti-dam debate of the 1990s and the Asian financial crisis of 1997, and the efforts to overcome them. It also takes into account the changing policies and practices at the World Bank and other financial institutions to tighten environmental and social safeguards and provide greater transparency in the use of natural resource rents by recipient countries. The project broke ground in 2005 and revenues from it started to flow in 2010, making this book a timely study.

Having observed the dam's preparation and implementation closely, Ian Porter and Jayasankar Shivakumar document and compile perspectives and insights from a range of participants and stakeholders. Starting with an introduction to Lao PDR and NT2, and an overview of the contents of the book, the editors sequence the contributors' chapters to follow NT2's journey from start to commercial operations. A chapter by a consultant team from the Duke Center for International Development provides an independent assessment of the preparation of NT2. Taken together, these chapters explore the myriad development, environmental, social, economic, financial, and public involvement issues that were addressed in the course of this complex project.