Offloading Risks & Avoiding Liabilities: How Financial Institutions Consider Hydropower Risks in Laos

The collapse of Saddle Dam D of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Dam project in Southern Laos in July 2018 directed a great deal of public attention to the risks and dangers associated with dams. This paper examines how financial institutions identify, evaluate, address and manage hydropower risks. And this paper finds that the likely profitability of dams as a financial asset and their energy markets has made dam building highly attractive.