Nam Sam 1A Dam Hydropower Info by Hobo Maps - Go to Hydropower Projects Page - - Home

Nam Sam is pronounced "Nam Sahm" and Nam Sam 1A was also called "Nam Sum 1A" in the past and in some of the images below.

The Nam Sam 1A project is located in Samtai District, Houaphan Province of northern Lao PDR. It is southeast of Vieng Xay and Sam Neua towns - next to the Vietnam border and south of National Road 6.

Nam Sam 1A dam site images below:

Nam Sam 1A hydropower project is located on the Nam Sam (river) in Laos but that same river is known in Vietnam as the Song Chu river. The dam and powerhouse are together and located at coordinates 19°54'56.5"N 104°50'17.8"E (19.915694, 104.838278) as in the image below.

The project seems to be mostly or fully completed and will become operational soon, if not already, this July 2026.

The project is developed by Phongsupthavy Group and invested by NamSum 1A Power Company Limited (a member unit of Trung Son Power Joint Stock Company) .

Hydro-mechanical equipment is provided by Quang Trung Mechanical One Member Company Limited.

Nam Sam 1A - dam, reservoir & powerhouse images below:

Nam Sam 1A Dam is a 50 MW hydropower project with 2 vertical shaft Caplan turbines at 25 MW each.

The gravity concrete dam is to be 129 meters long, 16.5 meters wide and 44.5 meters high.

The crest elevation of the dam structure is to be at 292 meters above sea level.

The normal surface water level of the reservoir is to be 272 meters above sea level.

The reservoir would have 41 million cubic meter capacity .

Image below (not verified yet) seems to show water release October 6, 2025 after heavy rains - from Facebook posting at https://www.facebook.com/reel/1305318641371065 .

Nam Sam 1A site images below at the start of construction:

The project will be connected to Vietnam's electricity system transmission grid at the 220 kV Nong Cong Station (near Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam).

On 13 November 2020 the project signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Vietnam (EVN) for sale and export of the project's output.

On 22 November 2021 a concession agreement was signed woth government of Lao PDR. Not sure how many years it will be effective.

We can see the exporting Transmission Station on a satellite image in the image below south of Nam Sam 1A HPP and about 2.5 km from the Vietnam border at coordinates - 19°52'28.0"N 104°49'19.3"E (19.874444, 104.822028).

This station is already operational and exporting power from Nam Sam 3 HPP and will also in the near future transmit power from other plants in the area. On December 21, 2024, the Vietnamese National Power Transmission Corporation announced the successful completion and energizing of the 220 kV Nam Sam-Nong Cong transmission line project. This project was initially scheduled for completion in 2022 for export of power to Vietnam from the Nam Sam area hydropower cluster which may include Nam Sam 1A, Nam Sam 3, Nam Sam 3A, Nam Neun 1 & 3, Nam Peun & the 6 dams of the Nam Yeuang cascade.

Nam Sam 1A connects to transmission line for export to Vietnam in map below at upper right side. See enlarged version HERE.