Myanmar - Affordable electricity benefits industrialists while rural dwellers pay high prices: Deputy minister

Myanmar - Affordable electricity benefits industrialists while rural
dwellers pay high prices: Deputy minister

deputy minister for electricity and energy, who has called for funding for
another generator.

He said: "We acquire electricity from private hydropower stations for around
Ks68 (US$0.05) per unit and from gas-fuelled power plants for Ks158. Then we
sell electricity back to citizens at Ks35 a unit and to industrialists at
Ks75. So the government's electricity distribution is facing a loss."

Estimates suggest the power sector will show a loss of up to Ks378 billion
in the fiscal year 2017-18. Only 35 per cent of the population has access to
electricity, according to the deputy minister.

"Business owners and industrialists benefit from affordable electricity
while more than 6.5 million households cannot enjoy electricity. Residents
of remote areas that the main grid cannot reach have to rely on expensive
private power supply. Where is the equality? I feel sorry for people in
remote areas."

He asked Parliament on March 13 for Ks30 billion to purchase 25-megawatt
generator.

The country used 2,743 megawatts last year. Hydropower plants produced 1,840
megawatts and gas-fuelled plants 903 megawatts, according to the ministry.

Yangon Region used 1,250 megawatts of power last fiscal year, according to
the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation.

The region accounts for up to 50 per cent of the country's power
consumption. The ownership ratio between the government and the private
sector in the electricity sector was 51:49, Htun Naing told a forum in
Yangon.

The Ministry of Electricity and Energy on March 16 unveiled its plan to cut
supplies to street lights to meet the anticipated power demand of 3,100
megawatts during the hot season.

The country can generate only 2,856 megawatts during the hot season. Turning
off the street lights in Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw would save 20
megawatts, according to the briefing.

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Link to Original Article: http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/business/8408

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com