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Hongsa

Coal power plant in Nan, Laos. Approximate location 19.691, 101.28.

CoalNanLaos

Hongsa is a 1,878 MW coal power station in Nan, Laos. It is operated by Hongsa Power Company Limited. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 2,350,182 homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 20 Laos power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2016, it is around 10 years old — relatively modern. In context, coal supplies about 23.3% of Laos's electricity; the national grid averages 232 gCO₂/kWh (76.7% low-carbon) (2024).

1,878MW installed capacity
2,350,182homes powered (est.)
2016commissioned (~10 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1022391.

~8,225,640 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

1,917,399passenger cars driven for a year
1,072,723homes' yearly energy use
137,094,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 50% load factor × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Owner

Operated by Hongsa Power Company Limited.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate (Köppen Cwa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 19.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

22.7°Cannual mean temp
0heating degree-days (base 18°C)
1,728cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
907 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 20 °CFM: 23 °CMA: 25 °CAM: 25 °CMJ: 25 °CJJ: 25 °CJA: 25 °CAS: 24 °CSO: 23 °CON: 20 °CND: 18 °CD25 °C

Heating degree-days here run 100% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 13/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

Laos has 1 coal power plant in this dataset, together about 1,878 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 19.691, 101.28 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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