China helps Myanmar solve electricity shortage
By Sun Guangyong, People’s
Daily
Photo shows the project where Myanmar’s northern
state of Kachin is connected with a 230KV
backbone project. Photo by Sun Guangyong from People’s Daily
Chinese electricity companies have been working with local residents in
Myanmar to help the latter tackle electricity shortages.
Of Myanmar’s 10.88 million households, half have experienced electricity
shortages and about 43,000 villages have yet to be connected
to the national electricity network.
Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi had said that to
improve people’s livelihood, the first thing to do is to develop the
electricity industry.
To increase electricity supply and develop the electricity industry is
the priority task of the Myanmar government, as well as the urgent need of the
country to boost economy and improve people’s well-being.
U Thaung Tun, Myanmar’s Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic
Relations, expressed that Myanmar is willing to accelerate implementation of
cooperative projects with China in key fields such as electricity and
transportation.
According to credible sources, currently about half of Myanmar is
connected with electricity and the country is expected to achieve full
electricity coverage by 2030.
With street lamps, the road connecting Mandalay, Naypyidaw and Yangon
has become much busier than before.
“Myanmar’s economy is constantly developing. To address electricity shortages,
Chinese companies and their Burmese counterparts are conducting comprehensive
cooperation in power source construction, power transmission and distribution,
and electric technology,” said Tan Shufu, the Economic
and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.
To strengthen electricity cooperation is an
important part of the co-construction of the Belt and Road between China and
Myanmar, said U Win Khaing, Myanmar’s
Union Minister for Electricity and Energy.
Such cooperation is vital for the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), and will
accelerate infrastructure connectivity of the whole region, the minister said,
adding that Myanmar is willing to work with China under the framework of the
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the CMEC to further China-Myanmar
electricity and energy cooperation, achieve win-win outcomes and push bilateral
relations for new progress.
U Win Khaing recently attended the opening ceremony of the Shwebo
transformer substation in Shwebo of Myanmar's northwestern Sagaing region.
The 230 KV power transmission line and substation project was built by State
Grid Corporation of China (SGCC). It could deliver electricity from northern
Myanmar to the demand centers in the southern
part of the country and satisfy industrial, commercial and
residential demands.
The transmission capacity of the double-circuit transmission line
between the state of Kachin and the 230 KV power transmission
line and substation project could reach 640,000 kilowatts. Running
nonstop with a full load in a year, the project could
transmit 5.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.
The
project gives Sagaing economical and stable electricity supply and brings
tangible benefits to local residents, said Chief Minister of Sagaing U Myint
Naing.
Within two years, the number of hotels in Shwebo has exceeded 20. At
night, the streets are illuminated and shops on both sides of
the street are decorated in colorful lights, making
the fruits displayed for sale more
attractive.
“More
and more people now like to take a walk, dine or go shopping at night, making
the city livelier.
Now, electricity outages and circuit breaker tripping are a thing of the past.
With stable electricity supply, I haven’t used the electricity generator for a
long time,” said a local resident.
Built in 2004, the Shwebo Industrial Zone is home to about 200 companies,
such as rice processing companies and home appliance manufacturers.
According to the person in charge of the zone, the place was supported
by a power transmission line and a substation project, but as the electricity
network was aging and the power supply was insufficient, it had
experienced frequent circuit
breaker tripping and power outages. As
companies complained a lot about this, it was difficult to attract more
investment.
Now,
with electricity shortage no longer a problem, more and more companies are
planning to enter the industrial zone, he said.
The Thaketa gas-fired combined cycle power plant in
Thaketa township, Yangon is also constructed and operated by a Chinese company.
Having the highest level of operational efficiency and being the most energy-efficient gas-fired power
plant in Myanmar, the power produced by the plant accounts
for 15 percent of local electricity consumption.
In November 2019, PowerChina Resources Limited, the overseas investment
arm of POWERCHINA, signed an agreement with the Myanmar
Electric Power Enterprise to purchase electricity from the Kyaukpyu gas-fired
power plant.
The Kyaukpyu gas-fired power plant, adopting gas-fired turbines and steam
turbines, could generate one billion kilowatt hours of electricity upon completion.
It will greatly improve power supply to the surrounding areas, give a boost to
local economy, create employment, and support the construction of the
China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
Over the past three years, Myanmar’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy
has been increasing power supply at an annual rate of 12 percent, said U Win
Khaing.
“A lot of Chinese electricity companies have come to Myanmar to make
contribution to our electricity development. They are very welcomed by the
Myanmar society and their power production and transmission projects have
demonstrated the strength of Chinese companies in electricity infrastructure
construction,” said the minister.
China helps Myanmar solve electricity shortage
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