Batang Toru Dam

Sectors: Hydroelectric Power Generation On record This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date Send feedback on this profile

By: Friends of the Earth US Created on: Aug 20 2018 Last update: Mar 6 2020

Project website

Status

Planning Design Agreement Construction Operation Closure Decommission

Sectors Hydroelectric Power Generation

Location

Status Planning Design

Agreement

Construction

Operation

Closure

Decommission

About Batang Toru Dam The Batang Toru Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam project in the fragile Batang Toru ecosystem, North . The project is expected to generate 510 MW electricity for six hours a day and will occupy several hundred hectares of prime habitat along the Batang Toru River in the South Tapanuli district, but would impact a much larger area. Currently, land is being developed and cleared for the project. PT Hydro Energy (PT NSHE) is developing the project, originally announcing plans for the hydropower plant in 2012. The dam is slated to become operational by 2022 and is expected to cost USD 1.6 billion.

Latest developments

Bank of China to evaluate Batang Toru hydropower plant project Mar 14 2019

Bank of China faces international day of action over Batang Toru finance Mar 7 2019

Why this profile? The Batang Toru Dam will have potentially irreversible environmental, social, and biodiversity impacts on the North Sumatra region in Indonesia. The Batang Toru ecosystem is a critical habitat for many endangered species including Sumatran tigers, sun bears, agile gibbons, and pangolins. This ecosystem is the only known habitat of the newly discovered Tapanuli orangutan, of which less than 800 currently remain – making it the most endangered Great Ape species in the world. If built, the Batang Toru Dam project will likely doom the Tapanuli orangutan to extinction. What must happen PT NSHE and Sinohydro should immediately halt all operations, and remove already built infrastructure, including roads and bridges, which is currently giving access to poaching, illegal logging and land speculation. Given the high densities of orangutans at the project site, any further disturbance will have severe consequences for the Tapanuli orangutan.

Reputable independent consultants should immediately conduct a new environmental impact assessment. Given the presence of critically endangered species and the impacts on downstream communities, this will undoubtedly show that Batang Toru is not a suitable location for a hydroelectric dam.

To ensure the long-term survival of the Tapanuli orangutan, the Indonesian government must give legal protection to the whole Batang Toru forest. This will prevent similar threats emerging in future.

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts The dam will radically alter the nature of downstream water courses, significantly impacting the local people. It will produce electricity during periods of peak demand, typically between 6pm and midnight. During the day, the river will be blocked and the reservoir above the dam will gradually fill up, to be released later through the tunnel and turbines to generate electricity. Downstream communities, which normally experience drought and flood cycles a few times a year, will now have to learn to cope with them on a daily basis.

Environmental and climate impacts Flawed impact assessment The environmental impact assessment (EIA) is deeply problematic. While it recognizes the existence of the many of the problems listed below, including the presence of orangutans and other endangered species, it fails to address the full impacts the dam will have on wildlife, or other problems such as mitigation measures for the impacts on downstream communities.

Risk of extinction The Batang Toru forest is home to the entire remaining population of Tapanuli orangutans, the most endangered great ape species in the world. The new project poses a very real threat of extinction for this entire species. Many more endangered species will be severely impacted, such as Sumatran tigers, sun bears, agile gibbons and pangolins.

Threats to fisheries and river ecology The dam will split the river in two, preventing fish and other species from migrating along the river. This will have serious impacts on fish like jurung, an extremely important and highly valued source of food and income for local communities.

Threats from pollution Despite being billed as a ‘green’ project, like all large hydroelectric projects the Batang Toru dam will emit significant quantities of greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change. These emissions originate from the manufacture of the massive amounts of concrete and other materials needed for construction. They are also emitted by decomposing vegetation in the flooded reservoir above the dam, especially methane, which as a greenhouse gas is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Other dam reservoirs have also led to increased concentration of methylmercury in the aquatic food chain, which is known to cause brain and nervous system damage.

Risk of earthquakes Batang Toru lies in the middle of an earthquake hotspot: the region has the highest density of earthquakes in mainland Sumatra. There is also mounting evidence that reservoirs can themselves trigger earthquakes, due to the increased pressure created by large bodies of water. If an earthquake were to strike and rupture the dam when the reservoir was full the consequences for those living downstream would be catastrophic (Damming Evidence report 2018).

Governance

Applicable norms and standards

IFC Performance Standard 1: Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts

Updates

Bank of China to evaluate Batang Toru hydropower plant project Mar 14 2019 Bank of China has said it will evaluate its funding commitment to the Batang Toru hydropower plant project in North Sumatra amid environmental concerns. “Bank of China will evaluate the project very carefully and make prudent decisions by duly considering the promotion of green finance, fulfilment of social responsibility as well as the adherence to commercial principles,” the bank said in a statement posted on its website (The Post). Bank of China faces international day of action over Batang Toru finance Mar 7 2019 On March 1st, 2019, activists in cities around the world staged protests outside Bank of China branches and Chinese diplomatic missions to protest the bank's links to the Batang Toru dam. Wahli (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) and Friends of the Earth US helped to coordinate the actions. On March 4th, Bank of China responded, in a rare engagement from a Chinese bank, saying it "will evaluate the project very carefully and make prudent decisions by duly considering the promotion of green finance, the fulfilment of social responsibility as well as the adherence to commercial principles."

Financiers

The Batang Toru Dam is expected to cost USD 1.6 billion and is largely funded by the Bank of China, as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. The project's joint venture partners (PT DHN, Fareast Green Energy, and PT PJB Investasi) are expected to provide equity finance.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have shied away from supporting the Batang Toru Dam project in Indonesia over environmental concerns.

Related companies

PT North Sumatra Hydro Energy (PT NSHE) is a joint venture owned by the parent companies: PT DHN (52.8%), Fareast Green Energy (22.2%) and PT PJB Investasi (25%).

Project sponsor

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Other companies

Fareast Green Energy Singapore

PJB Investasi Indonesia

PT Dwipa Hasta Nusantara (PT DHN) Indonesia

PT PLN Indonesia

Sinohydro China