LATVIA

Although its hydro potential is quite modest – a gross theoretical capability of only about 7 TWh/year – Latvia is of interest for its rapid development of small-scale hydro plants in recent years. In 1996 there were only 16 small hydro-stations, which generated 4.5 GWh. By 1999, the number in service had grown to 53 and annual generation to 15 GWh, while a further 15 plants were under construction.

MADAGASCAR

Madagascar has a considerable land area (greater than that of France, for example) and heavy annual rainfall (up to 3 600 mm). Consequently the potential for hydropower is correspondingly large: gross theoretical potential is put at 321 TWh/year, within which the technically feasible potential is 180 TWh/year. With current installed capacity standing at 105 MW and annual hydro output about 510 GWh, the island’s hydro capability has scarcely begun to be utilised. A small amount of hydro capacity (42 MW) is under construction.


MALAYSIA

There is a substantial potential for hydro development, with a total technically feasible potential of about 123 TWh/year, most of which is located in Sarawak (87 TWh/year) and Sabah (20 TWh/year); a considerable proportion of Peninsular Malaysia’s technically feasible potential of 16 TWh/year has already been developed. At end-1999, Malaysia possessed 2 050 MW of hydro capacity: according to Hydropower & Dams World Atlas 2001, 55 MW of capacity was under construction and 625 MW was planned.

Construction of the 2 400 MW Bakun hydro project in Sarawak was halted by the Government in 1997 as an austerity measure, but the Government began inviting bids for the project in December 2000.

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