Nam Phak Dam Bolaven Hydropower Info

Nam Phak Dam - Bolaven Plateau Hydropower Info by Hobo Maps - Go to Hydropower Projects Page - - Home

There are two different hydropower projects in Laos named Nam Phak and we have a separate web page for each.

In La District, Oudomxay Province, northern Laos there is a Nam Phak Hydropower project we refer to as Nam Phak Oudomxay. Click HERE to see our separate web page for this northern Laos project.

In the south-western corner of the Bolaven Plateau in Champasak Province there is a Nam Phak Hydropower Project being developed by CS Energy Co. Ltd. The rest of this web page below is about this Southern Laos project.

Nam Phak is pronounced like "Nam Pack".

Nam Phak Bolaven site images below:

The Nam Phak Hydropower Project is located east of Pakse and about 20 km south-west of Paksong town near Nong Luang village, Paksong District, Champasak Province, southern Lao PDR in the general area of coordinates 15°04'32.0"N 106°08'21.1"E (15.075548, 106.139196). This is a large and complex hydropower project that will have multiple coordinates when completed.

Nam Phak Hydropower location in red outline below on Bolaven Plateau green area:

The plan includes two reservoirs and two power generation stations with the larger facility located on Houay Namphak at the foot of the plateau cliffs. This view below does not have north at the top.

CS Energy Co. has selected Tractebel in Thailand to oversee the procurement and construction phases of the Nam Phak hydropower project. View a nice 4 minute video of the planned Nam Phak hydropower project HERE . Another 2023 aerial view video 360 degree panorama of site - HERE .

The project was originally designed as a 150 MW project but later changed to a 128 MW project.

Initial work began in March 2021 and the project was scheduled for completion in late 2025.

Vietnam-based Song Da 5 Joint Stock Company (Song Da 5) is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) general contractor for the project.

Vietnam-based Construction Joint Stock Company 47 is the construction contractor for Nam Pha, Nam Phak and Phouphong Dams with total contracted value of nearly US $35 million.

Voith India is the supplier and construction contractor for the electrical engineering work.

Nam Phak HPP Bolaven site view images below:

Project Owners: Chaluen Sekong Energy Co., Ltd. 85%, EDL 10%, and Kobe Green Energy 5%.
Basic Design: Tractebel Engineering Ltd.
Consultant: Tractebel Engineering Ltd.
Geological survey SSSDC, BMEC

Initial survey: 2007, by KOBE Company (KGPC)
Initial project owner: KOBE Company (KGPC)
feasibility study (FS): Built in 2010, by (AECOM)

Updated feasibility study (FS): 2014-2015 by: Lao Major India.
Transfer Project Ownership: 2017, Chaluen Sekong Energy Co., Ltd.
Updated feasibility study (FS): 2017-2020 by Poyry / Afry Consultants
Start building infrastructure: 2021 By Chaluen Sekong

The Nam Phak project takes advantage of the area’s topography. Runoff from streams on the Bolaven Plateau are diverted through tunnels and channels to an upper reservoir and channeled through a 8 MW power plant before flowing into a lower reservoir. Water from there goes through a headrace tunnel and penstock down 700 meters in elevation to a 120 MW power plant at the base of the Bolaven plateau escarpment. 120 + 8 = 128 MW combined capacity with 586 GWh annual output.

Not sure where the project's output will be transmitted to since CS Energy website mentions export to both Vietnam and Cambodia as possibilities while the project location is closer to Thailand.

Many streams on the Bolaven Plateau will have their flows diverted by weirs, tunnels and water channels into Northern and Southern diversion systems and into the Nam Pha reservoir.

The project has a storage lake and generating facility on the banks of the Houay Namphak at the base of the escarpment.

Nam Pha Reservoir will have normal surface water level of 993 meters above sea level and Phou Pong Reservoir 909 meters above sea level.

Nam Phak site escarpment drop-off images below:

Nam Pha Dam asphalt concrete core installation image below from August 2024. This new asphalt core type permits impounding to begin during construction.

Nam Phak HPP construction images below from work in progress - May 2024:

Nam Phak HPP construction images below from work in progress early 2024

Nam Phak HPP construction images below from work in progress - Sept. 2023:

Nam Phak Hydropower Project statistics below from CS Energy website.

Nam Phak project concept images below:

Phou Pong area falls below will be submerged when a new reservoir is created.

Nam Phak hydropower project info

The pioneering phase and construction began in 2021:
- Main Dam Model, Powerhouse and Site offices
- Locals Survey and the Roads
- Compensate for coffee plantation damage to people in the project area.
- Clear the area and started building the Roads of the Parksong side, first and the second phase.
- Install and build power lines of 22 kW.
- Build the bridge to cross Nam Phak
- Clear the area and start building camps and site offices.

The overall construction phase in 2022: