Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) -- Lights flicker on and off
at any hour of the day, sending visitors' eyes toward the ceiling, while
locals carry on without a pause.
Blackouts are common in
Myanmar, due to an old and neglected energy network that only reaches a
quarter of the country's 60 million people.
Even in the largest city,
Yangon, only two-thirds of the population is connected to the grid. The
rest rely on diesel generators and batteries. Some poorer neighborhoods
receive as little as one hour of electricity a day.
Aye Kyaing, 39, rents out
a pool table in his one-room house in North Dagon Township in northern
Yangon. Two lights -- a strip light and a single bulb -- cast a mild
glow over the game. A small candle sits on the kitchen bench for when
the lights go out.
"In 2011, it was really
bad," he said. "We lost electricity about two to three times a day for
very long. This season, it's only happened twice."
New energy architecture
Delivering energy to 45
million people not currently serviced by the grid is one of the biggest
challenges Myanmar faces as it embraces democracy after decades of
military rule.
"Electricity access is
crucial for education, it's crucial for health, it's crucial for other
social kinds of support and social activities -- so it's much broader
than just industrial or business needs," said Stephen Groff, vice
president of the Asian Development Bank, while launching a new report "New Energy Architecture" at the World Economic Forum in Myanmar.
Currently, Myanmar
produces 75% of its electricity by burning wood from natural forests or
hydropower, which all but grounds to a halt during the dry season from
December to March.
The country is rich in
natural resources but until now anything extracted has been exported to
China and Thailand. Myanmar's new policy, the government says, is to
keep it at home.
"Because of the
sanctions, we needed hard currency for development -- otherwise our
country would be left behind," said Deputy Energy Minister Htin Aung.
"But our new policy is
that natural resources that we find will be used as a priority for the
domestic market. We are not going to sell it unless we fill our demand
first," he said. "If there is a surplus we will pursue value-added
products and export."
Decrepit power network
He says current
contracts will be honored -- "it is the reputation of our country" --
but no new export deals will be signed until domestic demand is
satisfied.
Patching the holes in
Myanmar's decrepit power network will be no easy task, but in the
meantime the country's being urged to take modern strides with mini
off-grid solutions.
It's worked in Laos, a
country of six million people that borders Myanmar, China, Thailand,
Cambodia and Vietnam. In 2000 only 30% of Laotians had access to energy.
Now 70% receive power from various grids.
Simon Henschel is the
chief operating officer of Sunlabob Renewable Energy, a private company
that's been working with the government and villages to bring energy to
rural Laos since 2001.
"In the north we've
established a regional grid; three villages each have a hydro-turbine
connected to a solar hybrid grid," he said. "The hydro power runs every
day, 24 hours, it's very powerful energy and the solar is for peak hours
and makes it more efficient."
The hydro power station
provides electricity to around 900 households in two villages. It's now
connected to the main utility grid and a feed-in tariff has been agreed
so that investors can earn money from the excess.
Who those investors
might be depends on government policy, which is yet to be decided. It
could vary from village to village, Henschel says, depending on who has
the money to invest and how long they can wait for returns.
"Some of the villages
that I've seen here, the monasteries have huge influence," he said. "We
have had contact with Burmese monks who have money to pay for the grid
systems for their surrounding villages. So there's different ownership
business models and I think policy should be addressed to make it open."
If monks are at one end
of Myanmar's potential energy solution, major players like Total,
Chevron and China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) are at the other.
After taking office in
2011, the Burmese government put dozens of on and offshore blocks up for
tender, and another 20 offshore blocks are expected to be offered by
the end of this year.
Major pipelines
Right now, 16 foreign
companies are working on 17 onshore oil blocks, and another 15 are
involved in exploration or production at 20 existing offshore blocks,
according to the report.
By 2014, work is
expected to finish on two major pipelines. CNPC is building a
771-kilometer (479-mile) pipeline through Myanmar to take oil from the
Middle East and Africa to China.
Another 870-kilometer
(540-mile) pipeline will take gas overland from the Shwe gas field --
off the coast of western Rakhine State -- also to China.
Shwe is one of two new
gas fields due to open by the end of this year that are expected to
double existing production, increasing exports to China and Thailand.
While plans are in place
to switch the power on in Myanmar, experts and the government warn it
will take significant time and money.
"If you're going to see a
change in electricity access from 26% where it is today, to what we
would hope to reach by 2020 -- 60% -- there's a lot that needs to be
done," said Groff.
The minister added: "We
are working very hard to have a sustainable electricity in the very near
future and for the longer term we have been planning a lot of things so
there's sustainable energy for the whole country."
For many people it won't come a minute too soon.
source: CNN
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