Myanmar’s junta is seeking help from its neighbors to switch to solar energy as its self-inflicted energy crisis worsens.
Electricity Minister Nyan Tun on Thursday said China will help fund four solar power projects, and the regime has also sought India’s help electrifying some government offices with solar power.
Speaking at a meeting of the National Renewable Energy Committee, which he chairs, Nyan Tun said MOUs had been signed for China to invest 1 billion yuan in building four solar energy projects in Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyitaw with a combined capacity of 190 MW.
The MoU was signed between the Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Ministry and China’s International Development and Cooperation Agency, but he did not say when it was signed or when the projects will be completed.
The regime is also asking India to install solar power systems at the junta’s central training center and the Department of Electric Power Planning in Naypyitaw under a small development project worth up to US$ 2 million, he added.
The central training center provides “capacity building” and refresher courses for government employees, while the DEPP is a key agency in power supply.
Nyan Tun claimed several companies had expressed interest in solar power projects, and the regime had also signed MOUs for wind power projects.
Already some Chinese companies are building solar power plants in Myanmar, and the regime has said it hopes to implement them as soon as possible.
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, during a visit to China’s Kunming last year, invited Chinese businesspeople to invest in Myanmar’s electricity sector.
The junta has exempted solar equipment from import taxes, not least because the main importers reportedly include Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone, who has interests in most of Myanmar’s lucrative industries.
The junta’s second-in-command Soe Win has also lately been promoting the use of solar power. He told a recent meeting that the war office headquarters in Naypyitaw has been using solar energy for the past two years, and that the panels will have paid for themselves in the next 18 months.
Myanmar has been suffering from electricity shortages since the military coup. In January this year, the junta said electricity generation has decreased by 1,009 megawatts, with daily generation of 2,200 MW, while supply has declined to about 50 percent of total production capacity.
Even households in Yangon’s relatively privileged townships have only been provided with power on a rotating basis, with four hours on followed by four hours off.
