With the mini-grid, up to 400 households in Magway’s Lel Ma village now have access to electricity.Myanmar’s electrification rate is one of the lowest in the world at around 50 percent. Kapil Seth, chief executive officer of Mandalay Yoma Energy, hailed the investment as a landmark in electricity access for remote areas of the country.

Mandalay Yoma Energy is a solar energy joint venture between French ENGIE Group’s GDF International SAS and Singapore-based consuntancy Sol Partners Pvt Led.Mandalay Yoma Energy says it is looking to develop more solar and hybrid mini-grids to electrify tens of thousands of households across Myanmar’s rural areas and work closely with the Department of Rural Development to develop more mini-grid programmes. The Rural Development Department’s mini-grid programmes are part of the World Bank-supported Myanmar National Electrification Plan 2030 that aims to electrify every household in the country by 2030.

The World Bank released a report this year estimating that US$2 billion of annual investments by 2030 are required to reach complete electrification.  The Myanmar government raised electricity tariffs in July, making solar panel installations a more attractive proposition because of their cost competitiveness and advantage of being deployed more quickly than other renewable energy sources.Meanwhile, a 2017 report by Paris-based independent International Energy Agency revealed that decentralised solutions such as mini-grids are the most cost-effective option to deliver electricity to more than 70pc of people who have yet to gain access to electricity.

Source: Myanmar Time

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