Nam Mo 1 Dam Hydropower info by Hobo Maps - Go to Hydropower Projects Page - - - HOME

The Nam Mo (river) originates in eastern Xieng Khouang province and flows in a circular manner to the Vietnam-Laos border where it continues alongside the border line for a few kilometers before flowing eastward within Vietnam and eventually becoming a main tributary of the Ca River.

On the Laos side, the Nam Mo 1 and Nam Mo 2 hydropower projects are under construction while a Nam Mo 1 hydropower project also exists on the Vietnamese side. A confusing situation having two hydropower dam projects with the same name of Nam Mo 1 on the same river not far apart.

To clarify and manage this situation the governments of Vietnam and Lao PDR have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding agreement in 2016 that sets forth the understanding and cooperation of the two countries to develop these Nam Mo river hydropower projects.

Within Laos territory, 5 Lao villages in Xieng Khouang province along the upper Nam Mo river have experienced minor impacts from the raised water level of the Nam Mo river as it became included in the far upper part of the Vietnamese Nam Mo 1 reservoir (which is over 99% located in Vietnam).

This web page concerns the Nam Mo 1 hydropower project on the Laos side. We have a separate web page for the Nam Mo 2 hydropower project in Laos HERE. Neither of these web pages has any information about the Nam Mo 1 project in Vietnam.

The Nam Mo 1 & 2 Hydropower projects in Laos are developed by Lao-based Phongsupthavy Group.

The Nam Mo 1 Reservoir is along the blue line on the satellite image below. It shows the western end of the reservoir for the Nam Mo 1 hydropower project within Vietnam which is further into Vietnam and not shown on the image.

Red line in image below shows the Nam Mo river within Laos. The Nam Mo 1 Dam in Laos is about 18 km upriver (southwest) from where it reaches the border with Vietnam.

The Nam Mo 1 project is designed as 60 MW capacity. The plan is for some or all of this output to be exported to Vietnam pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the government of Vietnam signed in 2021.

Nam Mo 1 & 2 Dam locations shown in image below:

Nam Mo 1 dam location shown in images below at coordinates - 19°12'51.1"N 103°51'03.4"E (19.214190, 103.850954) near Den Muang town. :

Unconfirmed design details for Nam Mo 1 project are a concrete dam structure 18 meters high and 91 meters long, a 5.4 km long drainage tunnel and Francis style 3-blade turbines. Design gravity flow rate is estimated at 65 cubic meters per second.

Nam Mo Dams 1 & 2 Terrain map below shows estimated locations of project sites. Not sure where the Nam Mo 1 power plant will be located but maybe at one of the two general areas noted in the image. One place would have the outflow go back into the Nam Mo and into Vietnam while the other would direct the flow down to the Nam San river where it would pass thru the Nam San 3A & 3B powerhouses. Pure guesswork on our part at Hobo Maps though and neither place may be planned.

Nam Mo 1 hydropower project is one of 11 hydropower plants being developed by Phongsubthavy Group to sell electricity to Vietnam through a 220kV transmission line Nam Mo - Tuong Duong (Nghe An) invested by Phongsubthavy Group for the section in Laos and Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) for the section in Vietnam. The transmission line was originally scheduled for completion in 2022.

Nam Mo 1 & 2 projects are on transmission line image below for power export to Vietnam.

Nam Mo 1 connects to transmission line for export to Vietnam in map below. See enlarged version HERE.

An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the Nam Mo 1 hydropower project has been assigned to be prepared by Hanoi Construction Investment Trading and Technology Joint Stock Company (Vietnamese). The study is to identify potential impacts of the hydropower project on the assets, land use and livelihoods of residents of six villages to be impacted by the Nam Mo 1 reservoir - Ban Na Khorne, Ban Xieng Men, Ban Nam One, Ban Mor, Ban Nam Yiem/Nam Xong and Ban Nam Ngat. Compensation costs are to be studied as well.

Sadly, the above is about all the detailed info we have for Nam Mo 1 hydropower in 2023 as we see almost nothing available on the web.