Ban Koum Dam Hydropower Info by Hobo Maps - - Go To Hydropower Projects Page - - - HOME

Ban Koum Dam hydropower project is in a planning stage. It is to be located on mainstream Mekong a few kilometers upriver from Pakse in Southern Laos. The project is about 10 km above the confluence of the Mun/Chi River with the Mekong. The project at one time was also known as Salavan Dam.

The dam barrage structure is entirely in Laos near the Thai-Lao border. But the year-round raising of Mekong surface level upriver from the dam could have impacts in both countries.

Concept image of what Ban Koum Dam would look like below:

Ban Koum Hydropower Project is to be near Ban Koum Noi, Sanasomboon District, Champasack Province, Lao PDR. Also near Tha Long Village, Huai Phai Sub-district, Khong Chiam District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand.

Original project sponsors were Italian-Thai Development Co., Ltd and Asia Corp Holdings Ltd. and the Lao government. Not sure if Italian-Thai will remain as a sponsor since it is restructuring in 2024.

Proposed location on Mekong below is at coordinates 15°25'06.0"N 105°35'12.0"E (15.418333, 105.586667):

A powerhouse is to be located beside the spillway with total installed capacity of 1,872 MW from 26 bulb turbines at 72 MW each. Estimated annual output may come to 8,012 GWh.

Navigation locks will be located on the right bank of the Mekong River.

A stream fish passage way is to be located on the left bank of the Mekong River

The proposed dam structure would be 780 meters long and 53 meters high with a rated head of 19 meters.

Spillways are reinforced concrete structures equipped with 22 radial gates 20.0 meters wide and 25.50 meters high.

The project would have a reservoir with a surface area of 133 sq km and 15 million cubic meters live storage. About 86% of the reservoir would be confined within the historic channel of the Mekong.

The project has pumped irrigation systems planned for a total of 7,870 hectares to be irrigated in both Thailand and Laos.

Both the Pak Chom and Ban Koum trans-border hydropower projects face challenges due to the cross-border impacts. A Memorandum of Understanding may be needed between Laos & Thailand to clarify how surveys and cross-border impacts will be handled.

On 17 Feb. 2022 the governor of Ubon Ratchathani Province stopped a private company from surveying an area for the dam project out of concern it could harm bilateral ties with Laos. Better to not proceed until a MOU is issued.

As of year 2024 it seems the project has not submitted a request to the Mekong River Commission to start the PNPCA six month prior notification procedures.

Proposed statistics of Ban Koum Dam project below:

The Ban Koum Hydropower project location is shown at upper left side of map below:

Ban Koum relocation impact image below: