An official of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said those small projects that cause deforestation should be abolished.

As per the zoning plan of the Ministry and Trade approved by the local authorities, there are 11 large hydropower projects with a total capacity of 1,787 MW and 67 small projects with a combined capacity of over 440 MW in the locality.

At the moment, five large schemes have been completed and have been put into use, namely Da Nhim, Dai Ninh, Ham Thuan, Dong Nai 3 and Dong Nai 4 with a total capacity of 1,280 MW.

Four others comprised of Dong Nai 2, Dong Nai 5, Krong No 2 and Krong No 3 are being developed with a combined capacity of 266 MW while Dong Nai 6 and Dong Nai 2 schemes are still under further study.

For small- and medium-sized hydropower plants, the local government already assigned related agencies to study investment for 31 projects with a total capacity of some 352 MW. Among these, eight schemes have come into operation with a combined capacity of 107 MW.

Meanwhile, eight other projects are under construction with a total capacity of 150.4 MW and nine others have their investment plans, basic designs and site clearance completed with a combined capacity of 64.2 MW. Besides, six others with a total capacity of 35.5 MW are being studied for investment.

The province still has 36 projects with a combined capacity of more than 89 MW that are yet to get going.

Based on the zoning plan, the total area of hydropower projects in Lam Dong is about 16,157 hectares, or 1.65% of the province’s total natural area. Those projects under the ministry’s zoning plan cover 12,328 hectares while those under the zoning plan for small hydropower plants are roughly 3,829 hectares.

According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, a large number of hydropower schemes in the locality are yet to be arranged land for reforestation to replace the forest areas used for developing hydropower projects.