The Department of Rural Development is implementing rural electrification projects using solar home systems in villages where it is challenging to supply electricity through the national power grid due to factors such as scattered households, long distances between villages, and poor transportation connectivity.
What are photovoltaics used for in Myanmar?
In rural areas, photovoltaics are used for charging batteries and pumping water. 70% of the Myanmar population of live in rural areas. Myanmar's opened its first solar power plant in Minbu, Magway Division, in November 2018. It can produce as much as 170MW of electricity.
Is there solar power in Myanmar?
Myanmar has high solar irradiation levels in many areas, but no large-scale solar power systems have been installed due to the largely mountainous terrain, protected areas, and limited grid system. Solar power is currently an option only for rural and off-grid applications in Myanmar.
“Low energy access rates, high solar irradiance for most of the year, supply lagging behind the demand, [and the] high cost of electricity generation,” are key factors that make Myanmar an attractive destination for solar energy investment and deployment, Richard Harrison, Smart Power Myanmar CEO, told Solar Magazine.
Renewable energy, in the form of large-scale hydroelectric power, already accounts for around 60%, the single largest share, of Myanmar's electricity generation mix. The country also has an abundance of natural gas, an important export and the source of hard, foreign currency export revenues, as well as domestic power generation.
Who commissioned Myanmar's first commercial solar power plant?
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in June 2018 officially commissioned the first, 50-MWdc/40-MWac, phase of Myanmar's inaugural commercial solar power facility, the 220-MWdc/170-MWac, US$297 million Minbu Solar Power Plant.
“Following the lifting of sanctions in 2011, Myanmar launched an ambitious investment program, with both government and private sector participation, to develop its energy infrastructure and provide universal electricity access by 2030,” the World Bank highlighted in its June 2019 Myanmar Economic Monitor.