Xekaman 3 Dam Hydropower Info - by Hobo Maps - Go to Hydropower Projects Page - - - Home
Xekaman 3 hydropower project is located near the border with Vietnam on the Nam Pagnou South (river), a main tributary of Xe Kaman (river), Dak Cheung district, Sekong Province, Lao PDR. Xe Kaman (river) is a tributary to the Xekong (Sekong) river system. The project is about 10 km from the Vietnam border and 40 km from the Vietnam-Laos border crossing at Nam Giang-Dak Ta Ooc.
XeKaman is pronounced like "Say ka mahn".
Xekaman 3 HPP locations seen in satellite image below.
Xekaman 3 site images below:
Xekaman 3 Dam images below:
Xekaman 3 diverts the flow of the Nam Pagnou South river/reservoir about 8 km into a tunnel and penstock to the powerhouse which leaves a 10 km section of the river between the dam and the powerhouse without any flow during most of the dry season.
Xekaman 3 Hydropower Project sites image below. The power plant site is located at 15°22'31.1"N 107°24'23.0"E (15.375300, 107.406400) and the dam structure is at 15°25'28.9"N 107°21'48.6"E (15.424700, 107.363500).
The hydropower project started construction in 2006 and was put into operation in 2013 at an initial cost of over US $311 million. But in the early days of full operation, two pressure pipe problems led to damage that required substantial repair costs and delays. Full and continuous operation and export of output began again in 2022.
The project is operating under a 25-year Build-Operate-Transfer concession agreement.
The 250 MW project has average annual energy production up to 978 GWh with 90% of the electricity generated planned for export to Vietnam.
Xekaman 3 Power Ltd. Co. is owner of the project. Viet-Lao Power Joint Stock Company is the majority shareholder with 85% while Electricite du Laos (EDL) holds 15%.
Xekaman 3 Hydropower Project layout images below:
The Xekaman 3 hydropower project has a 101.5 meter-high concrete face rockfill dam, a 6,008 meter-long headrace tunnel, a 1,110 meter-long penstock and a 520 meter gross head.
Construction period was 2006 - 2013. Generation of commercial power for unit 1 began on June 20, 2013 and for unit 2 on July 15, 2013.
$203 million funding for the project may have been provided by the Vietnam government’s “Development Assistance Fund” and by Vietnamese commercial banks. In August 2007, it was reported that Vietcombank and the Bank for Investment Development of Vietnam had also agreed to provide $66 million in loans for the project.
In April 2023, partial debt refinance was sought from International Finance Corp. (IFC) of World Bank Group. The proposed IFC financing was a senior, secured A loan to Xekaman 1 and Xekaman 3 of up to US$ 90 million and mobilization of up to US$ 50 million from the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program as part of a package to refinance the existing loans of Xekaman 1 & 3. Not sure of the outcome for this refinancing.
Xekaman 3 dam image below located at 15° 25' 29" north 107° 21' 48.5" east (15.4247 N 107.3635 E):
The reservoir surface at full supply water is 960 meters above mean sea level with low supply at 925 meters above mean sea level. Active storage volume is 108.5 million cubic meters.
The project catchment area is 725 square kilometers which is part of the greater Nam Kong watershed drainage basin.
In June 2018, US-based ACO Investment Group and and its company Convalt Energy agreed with the Viet Lao Power Joint Stock Company to co-invest in three hydropower projects and co-develop solar power projects and a transmission backbone in Laos. The 3 hydropower projects were Xekaman 1, Xekaman 3 & Xekaman Sanxay. Not sure of the outcome of this agreement.
Lower area of Xekaman 3 HPP below:
Xekaman 3 area and reservoir images below:
Xekaman 3 Project statistic charts below:
Main Designer of the hydropower plant was Song Da Consulting JSC while main contractor was Vietnam-based Song Da Corporation.
Andritz Hydro delivered turbines, generators and associated electro-mechanical equipment for the project.
Xekaman 3 powerhouse images below:
Xekaman 3 intake structure below before impoundment of reservoir:
Xekaman 3 info sign below:
Xekaman 3 rotor images below:
Xekaman 3 powerhouse interior images below:
Xekaman 3 controls image below:
Xekaman 3 tunnel image below:
Xekaman 3 office image below:
Xekaman 3 site view image below:
Xekaman 3 tailrace view below:
Xekaman 3 Hydropower Project location is shown at right side of map below:
Xekaman 3 switchyard image below with surge tank in background:
A transmission line connectsNam E-Moun to the Vietnam national grid through a 230 kV dual circuit line with a length of 92 km. The voltage for power supplied to the Vietnamese national grid is 230 kV while for Laos the voltage is 115 kV.
XeKaman 3 HPP connects to the Nam Emoun 220 kV line for export to Vietnam.
Pressure Pipe Failure - On October 6, 2013 during the trial operation period there was a pressure pipe failure which was repaired but caused some delay in achieving complete operation.
Penstock damage December 2016 - Fairly soon after completion, the Xekaman 3 power plant started to be plagued by landslide problems at the penstock which appears to have been constructed on an ancient landslide slope. Problems started soon after the reservoir was filled when small land displacements caused major damage to the penstock and associated pipelines. At one location it appeared that a sinkhole was opening up and there also may have been a new channel being formed.
Work was ongoing to try to solve the landslide problems. A telescopic section of pipe was installed into the pipeline to try and accommodate the land movement. But on 16 December 2016 a major failure occurred on this slope which destroyed the penstock infrastructure and sent flood waters into the powerhouse. Thankfully the breach in the penstock posed no threat to people living downstream.
The damage was extensive as the power house and its equipment were inundated. Measures for stabilizing the landslide were carried out by removing soil from the head of the landslide, dewatering the cut slope and constructing a concrete shearpile wall.
The cost of fixing the problems was expected to be about $296 million USD and the total investment of the project increased to $607 million USD.
Xekaman 3 flooded control room image below from penstock breach Dec. 2016
In July 2022 it was announced that a new penstock had been constructed and that power generation from Unit 1 of Xekaman 3 HPP would be restarted. Hopefully the problems have now been resolved.
Penstock image below shows water discoloration on the slope:
The Xekaman 3 project was designed to qualify as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the Kyoto Protocol to receive carbon-reduction credits. The project is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas CO2 emissions annually by 499,481 tonnes by producing electricity from a renewable source. View or download CDM application document HERE .
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Maybe a New Dam & Reservoir for Xekaman 3 ?
Possible expansion of Xekaman 3 tributary river system and reservoir may be the new dam and reservoir we see on satellite images at Dak Cheung town as shown below. We see an existing tributary river flowing just below the Dak Cheung reservoir that would take flows released from the Dak Cheung reservoir about 5 km to the Xekaman 3 reservoir. This may not be a diversion but a way to hold back more water in the wet season that may have otherwise overflowed the Xekaman 3 dam and not passed through the turbines.
In 2024 this is unconfirmed. If anyone can confirm or explain otherwise please send us email at hobomaps@gmail.com .
Dak Cheung Dam is located at coordinates 15°27'39.6"N 107°16'04.8"E (15.461, 107.268) at red marker below.
A stream and river flow from just below the Dak Cheung dam structure to the Xekaman 3 reservoir as shown below.
The Lao words "Xe" and "Nam" both mean "river" and a term such as "Nam XeKaman" is not normally used.