Myanmar urged to tap alternative energy

Myanmar urged to tap alternative energy

ALTHOUGH hydropower accounted for 62 per cent of Myanmar's power production
last year, the nation should focus on improving the use of renewable energy
to meet its target of 100 per cent electrification by 2030, the Myanmar
Green Energy Summit 2017 has been told.

Dawn Del Rio, deputy country director of United Nations Development
Programme Myanmar, said the nation was also striving to attain the United
Nations sustainable development goal to substantially increase the share of
renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030.

She said sustainable and renewable energy should be adopted and utilised
efficiently through the use of technology and innovations in the generation,
storage, supply and use of energy.

Renewables would reach the most remote areas in Myanmar before the national
grid could, and prioritising it would leverage international investments and
empower communities, as well as support local entrepreneurship and
employment, Del Rio added.

She told the summit the key results of an innovative rural technologies
pilot supported by UNDP, in which 6,371 products were passed through the
distribution chain.

The ratio of fuel costs to household income dropped from 11 to 4 per cent,
and households saved US$139,730 (Bt4.6 million) in fuel wood and $14,630 in
lighting costs per year. Forty new businesses could create 116 additional
part-time jobs, she said.

Aung Myint, general secretary of Renewable Energy Association Myanmar,
recommended improving the use of solar power as a sustainable energy source.
He said solar could fulfil short-, mid-, and long-term power requirement of
the nation.

"Practical application of solar thermal technology and photovoltaic
technology need to be combined with well-designed systems of hybrid, energy
storage, energy efficiency, and environmental conservation and management,"
he said.

The Solar home system (SHS) was introduced in Myanmar in 1992 and has been
widely used throughout the country since 2010. Its potential for wider usage
has increased since 2015 through the public-private partnership scheme.

"Although there is no exact statistic, solar power application here is large
in number and exists as a nationwide application even in the most remote
areas," he said.

Aung Myint said LED lighting innovations and a substantial decrease in SPV
(solar photovoltaic) module costs could spread the use of solar in Myanmar.


"There is a huge market for SHS, not only for rural application but also for
electrification of off-grid areas.

Potential is pretty high but cannot be accomplished due to unfavourable
legislation," he said.

He said that commercialisation of renewable energy was in its early stages
in Myanmar and urged the government to set a proper regulatory framework to
encourage private investment in it.

Akarin Suwannarat, director for thermal power and renewable energy business
at Poyry Energy, said Myanmar had the potential to exploit wind energy in
highland and coastal areas.

Three wind power projects had been planned for development by 2031 and upon
completion, they would generate 4,032 megawatts of installed capacity. He
stressed the urgent need for an actual wind measurement campaign despite the
potential wind resource.

He suggested implementation of policy mechanism and guidelines, avoiding
impact on projects development.

He said feasibility studies would be carried out to avoid unexpected issues
such as limitations on land usage, transmission lines, wind turbine
generator transportation and a feed-in tariff scheme.

Akarin considered grid interconnection a major challenge for Myanmar, as
wind potential lessened in unfavourable locations further away from existing
transmission lines.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/aec/30324497

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com