Chinese-backed power plant in Kyaukphyu not yet fully operational: observers

By Admin 27 Apr 2023

DMG Newsroom
27 April 2023, Kyaukphyu

A Chinese-backed combined cycle power plant near Gantgawdaw Pagoda in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township began operations earlier this year, though the power plant is not fully operational yet, according to observers.

“We don’t know exactly how many megawatts that power plant produces,” said U Phoe San, a former Arakan State parliamentarian from Kyaukphyu Township. “It is known that the power generated by the power plant is supplied to sub-power stations and through that, electricity is supplied to the respective towns and villages.”

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.

A report on construction of the power plant indicated that it was to be fully operational by January 2023, according to U Tun Lwin, an observer of Chinese projects in Myanmar.

“According to the report, Kyaukphyu District will also be supplied with electricity. Now that the power plant is not operating at full capacity, people in Kyaukphyu District cannot be provided with electricity. If the power plant is still unable to operate in such a situation, it will affect the electricity supply of Kyaukphyu District and on the other hand, it will also affect the country’s electricity supply,” he said.

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.

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 Dr. Aung Zeya, the regime’s deputy minister for electric power, during a test-run of the power plant.

“No matter how much gas is produced in Arakan State, the Arakanese people are not entitled to full benefits. Now, the Arakanese people only have electricity for five hours a day. There are many villages in Kyaukphyu that have no access to electricity. The government should supply electricity to those villages,” said a resident of Kyaukphyu who declined to be named.

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

According to 2020 statistics from the Arakan State electric engineer’s office, 1,652 villages across Arakan State’s 17 townships still did not have access to electricity as of that year.