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

Nam Hinboun 1 Dam (also known as Nam Hinboun Downstream) is a 15 MW hydropower project located on the lower Nam Hinboun (river) in Hinboun district, Khammouane province in central Lao PDR. The dam location is at Hinboun town about 50 km north of Thakhek town provincial capital.

Satellite image belows shows Nam Hinboun 1 dam structure at Hinboun town just above Highway 13S at coordinates 17°43'40.8"N 104°34'19.2"E (17.728000, 104.572000).

Nam Hinboun river originates near the Kong Lor cave and the famous Thakhek Loop touring area. It flows west past the Theun-Hinboun hydropower project before turning southeast and heads past Hinboun town just before joining the Mekong River.

The developer is Rasita Power Co. Ltd. and project construction is estimated to cost about US$ 36.7 million. Rasita Power Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 2011 by Mrs. Banheuang Oudone, an entrepreneur who heads the Longsheng Group. She described the project as a "joint venture between investors from Laos, Rasita Power Co Ltd. and their Chinese and Thai partners Sichua ANHE Hydraulic and Hydroelectric Engineering Co Ltd, and Thai Union Public Co Ltd."

Nam Hinboun 1 Dam image site below:

The project is a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) project with a concession period of 30 years.

The project has an installed capacity of 15 megawatts and hopes to generate 79 GWh of electricity per year to be sold to EDL via the local power grid for domestic use.

The Feasibility Study for the project was done and a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed in December 2015 with the state utility EDL for a period of 30 years.

The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to implement the project was awarded to ANHE, a Chinese firm.

Construction of the project started in 2016 and was completed in 2023 after experiencing delays related to the Covid situation.

The run-of-river reservoir is not large and seems confined to the historic banks of the Nam Hinboun river where river levels have been raised to create effective storage all the way upriver to the Nam Hinboun 2 hydropower project (that remains unfinished). When the Mekong River is at high levels the backwater effect on the Nam Hinboun river stops operation of the Nam Hinboun 1 turbines due to lack of effective head.

The project will provide benefits to farmers for an additional 2,000 hectares of irrigated land.

Images below are screen shots from project videos.

National Road 13S is in upper right area of the image below.

Impressive Khammouane area mountains in background area of images below.

Nam Hinboun 1 Downriver hydropower plant image below

Nam Hinboun 1 Downriver hydropower plant image below at high water August 2023

Map below shows Nam Hinboun Dam in middle left area. The Nam Hinboun 1 dam structure is near the highway and can be seen from vehicles travelling on National Road 13S near Hinboun town.

Rasita Power Co. Ltd. has its website at - https://rasitapower.com/ and Facebook page at - https://www.facebook.com/RasitaLao/ .

Aerial-view videos of the project can be seen HERE and HERE.

A Dong Kasen resettlement village of about 380 houses for Lao people affected by the Nam Hinboun Hydropower project was planned to be constructed in Khounkham District, Khammoun province.