LNG projects: delayed, not dead

In January 2018, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy took a big punt on imported liquefied natural gas. At a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw on January 30, it signed “notices to proceed” with the sponsors of three LNG-to-power projects totalling almost 3,000 megawatts. With Myanmar’s hydropower projects delayed and output from domestic gas fields […]

Myanmar hikes electricity rates to fund grid investments

YANGON — Myanmar will raise electricity prices for the first time in five years, with rates as much as tripling for households and nearly doubling for businesses. The government’s just-announced tariff increases take effect this coming Monday and will bring relief to money-losing utilities that have sold power for far below generating costs. With urbanites buying […]

World Bank warns Myanmar to double electricity sector investment

YANGON — Myanmar needs to invest twice as much and implement projects three times faster to address its rapidly growing demand for electricity, the World Bank said. The figures presented in its Myanmar Economic Monitor, a biannual report released on Tuesday, indicated that Myanmar’s electricity supply will further deteriorate without a steep increase in investment by […]

World Bank Puts Myanmar’s Power Investment Needs at $2B a Year

YANGON—To sustain economic growth, Myanmar needs to invest up to US$2 billion (3.06 trillion kyats) annually in its electricity sector, according to a World Bank report released on Tuesday. In the report, “Myanmar Economic Monitor: Building Reform Momentum”, the World Bank said Myanmar’s economic growth is expected to rise to 6.5 percent in fiscal 2018-19, […]

Total, Siemens propose scaled-back LNG project in Tanintharyi

YANGON — The European consortium behind a 1,230-megawatt power project in Tanintharyi Region has proposed scaling back its plans amid stalled talks with the government over financial terms. However, a senior government official told Frontier the revised proposal is unlikely to be accepted and the project now faces the prospect of suspension or cancellation. French energy giant […]

Mizoram to soon commission 2 micro hydroelectric power projects

Aizawl: The Mizoram government will soon commission two micro hydroelectric power projects, which will generate 0.20 MW power, power and electricity minister R Lalzirliana told the state legislature on Friday. Construction of a 0.10-MW micro hydroelectric power project at Tuiriza near Saitual village in Aizawl district and another 0.10-MW Tuiching micro hydroelectric power plant near […]

Kyaukphyu power deal expected ‘within weeks’: Supreme Group

YANGON — The consortium developing a 135-megawatt power project at Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State expects final approval of a power purchase agreement within weeks, a spokesperson says. Myanmar’s Supreme Group and Chinese state-owned firm Sinohydro are jointly developing the US$180 million project, which will use gas from the Shwe field and generate power for distribution […]

Under pressure: Can the ministry’s latest power plan keep the lights on?

West of the downtown area, across the Yangon River, there’s a narrow spit of land that ends at the mouth of Twante Canal, with the island of Seikgyikanaungto to the west. For a brief period nearly three years ago, this site was to be the home of a power plant. It remains empty except for […]