Myanmar may soon fill its electricity supply gaps by importing power from China. Ministry of Electricity and Energy Deputy Permanent Secretary U Soe Myint disclosed to the Myanmar Times that a feasibility study will soon be conducted on the possibility of purchasing electricity from its largest neighbor. The study would follow an agreement to explore the possibility of cross-border transmission lines between the two countries, signed during Chinese head of state Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Myanmar.
“The policy that Myanmar is adopting is if we have surplus power we will sell it, and buy if we need. Currently, we will buy to fulfill domestic power need but sell back to them later if our domestic power generation can produce a surplus,” U Soe Myint told the Myanmar Times.
The comment follows an official statement from the MOEE that it would purchase 1,000 megawatts of power from China. Myanmar, which aims for total electrification by 2030, has turned to China for both its short and long term energy needs. Last summer, it awarded a series of high-value emergency tenders to Hong Kong’s VPower Group for liquid natural gas supply and power generation. Indeed, new power plants and transmission lines are key components of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, an ambitious infrastructure initiative that will further entangle the two countries.
