How big is Laos's transmission network?

OverWatts maps 3,200 km of transmission line in Laos, across 114 segments, plus 4 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.

What voltage is Laos's grid?

Most of the mapped network is high voltage (220–379 kV): 2,519 km of 3,200 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 500 kV.

How complete is the grid map for Laos?

Moderate — 13.9 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 46% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.

Who operates the grid in Laos?

EdL, EGAT, Nam Ngum 2 Power Co Ltd are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 8% of Laos's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.

What interconnectors connect Laos to its neighbours?

8,625 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, plus 3,668 MW planned. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Laos · electricity network

Laos power grid

OverWatts maps 3,200 km of Laos's electricity transmission network across 114 line segments and 4 substations, the 73rd most-mapped grid of 153 countries. Its backbone is high voltage (220–379 kV), carrying 2,519 km — 79% of the mapped length, with the highest tagged voltage at 500 kV. That works out to 13.9 km per 1,000 km² of land — moderate OpenStreetMap coverage, ahead of 46% of mapped countries. It is connected to 4 neighbouring grids by 8,625 MW of existing cross-border transfer capacity, with a further 3,668 MW planned.

Open the grid lens →Laos profile →

3,200 km

Mapped transmission line

Substations

#73

of 153 mapped grids

8.6 GW

cross-border · 4 neighbours

500 kV

Highest voltage

OpenStreetMap coverage

Moderate13.9 km / 1,000 km²ahead of 46% of 153 mapped countries

This grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn Laos's network — not how much network exists. Large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone, and every kilometre here is mapped length, so the totals are a floor rather than an operator-reported figure. 0% of segments carry a real line name and 8% an operator tag.

Mapped line length by voltage

380–764 kV681 km 21%
220–379 kV2,519 km 79%

114 segments · a segment is credited to the country containing its midpoint, so a border-crossing line counts once, on one side.

Cross-border links from Laos

Thailand5.4 GW
Cambodia2.6 GW
Vietnam538 MW
China60 MW
Vietnam2.0 GW · planned
Vietnam1.0 GW · planned
Myanmar600 MW · planned

8.6 GW existing · 3.7 GW planned · capacities from the Global Transmission Database v0.1 (CC BY 4.0), existing as of 2023

On the interactive map

Open the interactive map →

Load against the network

12.5 GW

Operating generation

800

km of line per substation

13.9

km per 1,000 km²

Where there is room to connect a new load depends on published hosting capacity, which most operators release only as their own map. OverWatts does not yet ingest those feeds, so these are the density measures the open data supports — generation and mapped demand against mapped network — not a headroom figure.

Operators tagged on Laos's network

Segment counts from OSM `operator` tags, merged across spellings. Present on 8% of segments — this ranks who is recorded, not market share.

How Laos compares · mapped grid by country

1. People's Republic of China624,300 km
71. Ivory Coast3,260 km
72. Austria3,221 km
73. Laos3,200 km
74. Greece3,062 km
75. Ecuador3,012 km

Frequently asked

How big is Laos's transmission network?: OverWatts maps 3,200 km of transmission line in Laos, across 114 segments, plus 4 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.
What voltage is Laos's grid?: Most of the mapped network is high voltage (220–379 kV): 2,519 km of 3,200 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 500 kV.
How complete is the grid map for Laos?: Moderate — 13.9 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 46% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.
Who operates the grid in Laos?: EdL, EGAT, Nam Ngum 2 Power Co Ltd are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 8% of Laos's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.
What interconnectors connect Laos to its neighbours?: 8,625 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, plus 3,668 MW planned. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Elsewhere in Laos

Transmission lines Substations Power plants Data centres

Network geometry: OpenStreetMap (ODbL) © OpenStreetMap contributors, ingested and measured by OverWatts · derived 2026-07-26. Counts every mapped line of 220 kV and above; the map layer draws the ≥380 kV backbone only, so it shows less than is measured here.