For a while now, Fishtek has been involved in a very exciting project. We have kept quiet about it up to this point, however the press have very recently been formally informed of our involvement in the $3.5 billion Xayaburi Hydropower Project on the Mekong River, in Laos PDR.
The project is the construction of a hydropower plant on the main-steam Mekong, which will generate up to 1,285 MW of renewable power. We have been brought into the project to provide expert fisheries advice, primarily on the design of the fish passing facilities (both upstream and downstream) at the dam as well as advise on the ongoing fisheries monitoring that is being conducted at the site.
Currently, as this article in the Vientiane Times describes, we are conducting fish swimming ability trials, using a bespoke flume that has been built on site. The information from this work is going to then be used to fine-tune the design of the fish passing facilities for Mekong fish species.