Lai Chau is a 1,200 MW hydro power station in Lai Chau, Vietnam. It is operated by Vietnam Electricity (EVN). Based on reported annual generation of 4,670 GWh, it can supply roughly 1,334,285 homes. It ranks #8 of 236 Vietnam power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2015, it is around 11 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 33.0% of Vietnam's electricity; the national grid averages 461 gCO₂/kWh (45.4% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1030913.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Vietnam Electricity (EVN). All plants by this company →
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate (Köppen Cwa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 22.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 91% 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: 17/100 — 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.
The #3 largest hydro power plant of 174 in Vietnam by capacity.
Vietnam has 174 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 16,750 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 22.1379, 102.9839 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
