Myanmar: Solar panels light up thousands of homes in Kayin State

Myanmar: Solar panels light up thousands of homes in Kayin State

Solar panels light up thousands of homes in Kayin State
Over 11,000 rural households in Kayin (Karen) State are set to newly receive
electricity thanks to a long-awaited solar panel program.

Under the National Electrification Project (NEP), the World Bank and the
Department of Rural Development are installing heavily subsidized solar
panels, which were sold to villagers at a fraction of the real cost. The
panels are being installed atop more than 11,000 households in five
townships throughout the state, according to an official from Kayin State's
Department of Rural Development.

The department's director, U Nay Oo, told KIC News that the project is
targeting rural villages in Hpa-an, Hlaingbwe, Kawkareik, Kya-in Seikkyi and
Thandaung townships that are currently not connected to the national power
grid.

"Solar power systems are being installed for 11,442 households across the
five townships. The NEP project has focused on installing them in villages
that are more than ten miles away from the national power grid to aid in
social, economic, education and health issues," he said on July 6.

Solar panels are installed free-of-charge on religious buildings and places
relating to education and health. The installation at all 11,442 homes is
expected to be completed by August, he added.

ICTS Company won the tender to install solar panels in Mon and Kayin states,
as well as in Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Region.

Under the NEP project, three types of solar panels are offered: Villagers
buying solar panels worth K300,000 pay K90,000 in three instalmments, while
those buying solar panels worth K480,000 pay K150,000 in three
installements, and solar panels worth K520,000 cost the villagers K210,000,
in three payments of K70,000.

"In the past, we only had candlelight. Now that our solar panel has been
installed, our child can study better at night. We don't need to go to the
shop to recharge our phones and we can also charge the batteries for
equipment for extracting [latex] from rubber [trees]," said Ko Chan Mon from
Naung Dayt Village, Kya-in Seikkyi township.

Around 70 percent of the country is not hooked up to the national power
grid, but the government has set an ambitious target of 100pc connection by
2030. In 2014, the World Bank pledged US$1 billlion in finanial support for
boosting Myanmar's electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

The government applieced for and received $400 million in loans from the
World Bank to expand the national power grid and electrify off-grid rural
areas.

In a separate project aimed at bolstering the state's electricty, Kayin
State officials are in talks for a controversial, 1280-megawatt coal-fired
power plant in Wut Gyi Village, Hpa-an township.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.bnionline.net/news/karen-state/item/3230-solar-panels-light-up-th
ousands-of-homes-in-kayin-state.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com