Chinese-backed power plant in Myanmar shuts down operation

A Chinese-backed combined cycle power plant near Gantgawdaw Pagoda in Myanmar’s Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township has shut down operations.

“The power plant has shut down its operations,” said U Phoe San, a former Arakan State parliamentarian from Kyaukphyu Township. China is building port at Kyaukphyu.

The combined cycle power plant started operating earlier this year, and the heat sensor system used in the waste heat system was not working properly, so the system was completely stopped, people close to the plant said.

“It is known that the thermal sensor system goes up and down to reuse the experimental heat energy. I think it’s a low level of technology. Electricity generated by this power plant is exported directly to mainland Myanmar, so there is no impact on the local residents,” said a resident of Kyaukphyu.

The power plant will use 22 million cubic feet of gas per day from the Shwe natural gas project to produce 1 billion kWh per year. When the power plant operates, it will generate 135 MW of electricity at a rate of 8.59 cents per unit. It is intended to produce about 1,000 million kilowatt hours of power per year.

“As the thermal sensor system is not working, this plant cannot produce the 135 megawatts of electricity it is supposed to produce. If the megawatt is not enough, there will be difficulties in the processes that the junta will do,” said U Tun Lwin, a resident of Kyaukphyu and an observer of Chinese and Korean projects.

The Myanmar Investment Commission granted permission to Power China Resources Co., Ltd to build the power project in January 2020, and the plant is expected to be fully operational later this year.

The plant will supply residential, industrial and commercial areas in Arakan State, and is a key power plant for the socioeconomic development of local people in the state, said the regime’s deputy minister for electric power, Dr. Aung Zeya during a trial run of the power plant in October last year.

There are 374 villages in Kyaukphyu Township, and some 100 villages still do not have access to grid electricity, according to locals.

(Economic Times)