Myanmar’s military regime has formed a body to evaluate hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River amid concerns that it plans to revive the controversial Myitsone Dam hydropower project near the river’s source in Kachin State, more than a decade after it was shelved amid a public outcry.
The body, led by the regime’s Deputy Electricity Minister Aye Kyaw, was formed on April 24, according to the junta’s May 17 gazette. The junta-appointed Kachin State natural resources minister is the deputy chairman of the body.
According to junta media, the body will undertake research, develop technical solutions and handle public relations for Irrawaddy River projects together with the Myitsone project’s Chinese developer, State Power Investment Corporation Yunnan International Power Investment Co. Ltd. (SPICYN), which was previously known as China Power Investment (CPI).
One of the five tasks of the 11-member body is to facilitate coordination and collaboration between the regime and Beijing on hydropower projects.
Power shortages became a problem after the 2021 coup and have worsened over time, affecting people in all walks of life and businesses in Myanmar. Industrial zones in the commercial capital of Yangon are not even spared the blackouts, though the junta leader often talks about boosting domestic production to reduce imports.
During a junta cabinet meeting in August last year, Min Aung Hlaing admitted that the troubled power supply was a challenge to his regime, and current production could not even meet half of domestic demand.
He told the meeting that the country would not be experiencing power outages if suspended mega electricity projects had been implemented.
Min Aung Hlaing reportedly told the meeting that if the Myitsone hydropower plant was operating today, it would be able to satisfy around 90 percent of national requirements, according to attendees. He joined Maung Aye when the No. 2 man of the previous regime visited China in 2009 to sign the initial Myitsone Dam project agreement.
His remark caused widespread concerns over a possible resumption of the Myitsone Dam project.
Located 32 km from the Kachin State’s capital of Myitkyina, the US$ 7.2-billion project aimed a generating a capacity of 20,000 megawatts was initiated in 2009 under the previous military regime led by Than Shwe.
A government suspension order in September 2011 under then-President Thein Sein’s administration following widespread public protest stalled the project.
Protests against the dam were fueled by a variety of fears and misgivings: that the majority of the electrical power generated would go to China; that the dam’s location near a seismic fault line posed a flood risk in the case of an earthquake; that the dam would threaten the flow of the Irrawaddy River and biodiversity and livelihoods downstream; and concerns over the general lack of transparency and public consultations undertaken before the project was awarded to China.
Under the now ousted National League for Democracy government, a parliamentary commission was formed to evaluate hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River in 2016.
Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament T Khun Myat, an ethnic Kachin man, chaired a commission tasked with assessing the potential environmental and social effects of any proposed project, in both up- and downstream parts of the Irrawaddy River. China also lobbied in vain for the resumption of the project.
After initially distancing itself from the regime following its coup in 2021, China has stepped up engagement with the junta since last year, asking it to protect its investments in Myanmar, and seeking to invest more. Late last year, China and the regime signed an addendum to the concession agreement for the Kyaukphyu deep seaport in Rakhine State in western Myanmar. China is also pushing for resumption of border trade worth more than $5 billion a year halted by fighting in northern Shan State.
Despite the latest joint effort by Beijing and the regime, rapid resumption of the Myitsone Dam project is still unlikely as the Kachin Independence Army and allied anti-regime forces are gaining the upper hand over junta troops in Kachin, seizing some 100 junta positions since launching an offensive in March.
