Electrical industry of burma/myanmar

Topographic map reference: Burma 1:250,000: Series S250, U.S. Army Map: NF 47-15: Amphoe Mae Chan. The town of Mong Khok (20° 44' 18" N, 99° 27' 50" E) is shown as Wan Koktau on this map, grid square reference: 5\5, 22\9. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/burma/txu-oclc-6924198-nf47-15.jpg
For a map showing the proposed ‘coal route’ from Mong Khok to northern Thailand see: http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2650:protest-against-cross-border-road-project-&catid=90:environment&Itemid=287
Additional references
Project summary: Mong Khok
Ko Htwe, IRROL, 25/07/11. Edited and condensed. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21757

Local Thai authorities, academics and activists held a public forum about the impacts of an open-pit lignite coal mining project in eastern Shan State on 21/07/11. At the meeting environmentalists voiced concern over the development of the mine and a related power plant in Mong Kok that would also export coal and power to Thailand. Large amounts of water will be drawn from the nearby Kok River to create steam for turning the coal-fired plant's turbines. This will later be discharged back into the waterway at high temperatures together with toxic chemicals that can damage the river’s ecosystem, claim green campaigners. The Kok river flows into Thailand through Chiang Rai province and the Mae Ai district of Chiang Mai province before joining the Mekong river. Director of Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEE Net) Witoon Permpongsacharoen said the power plant would also adversely affect air quality due to large quantities of toxic ash containing mercury, lead and arsenic that would be released into the atmosphere. All these poisons are absorbed by rain and would then seep into the Kok river which flows south to Thailand, he added. Lignite, a soft brown coal, produces more carbon dioxide emissions per unit of energy than any other type of fossil fuel. [A map showing the course of Mong Kok river and the road that will connect Mong Kok to Chiang Rai in northern Thailand accompanies the article.]

Hark Mong Kok (Love Mong Kok), press release, 21/07/11. Edited and condensed.

http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3879

Impacted communities today launched a campaign to oppose plans by Thai investors to develop a coal mine and power plant in eastern Shan State. According to a briefer issued by campaign organizers construction giant Ital-Thai’s plans to develop an open-pit lignite mine and coal-fired power plant at Mong Kok about 40 kilometers north of the Chiang Rai border and to import coal and power to Thailand. Thai workers began construction work on the power plant in April 2011, bulldozing farmlands of three Shan villages, which had been ordered to move by Burmese military authorities a month earlier. A mere 20,000 kyat (under USD 20) per acre of land was offered as compensation. Ital-Thai has agreements with the Burmese regime to extract 1.5 million tons of coal a year from Mong Kok for 10 years and to construct a 405-MW (3 X 135-MW generators) power plant that would sell 369 MW of electricity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand over 25 years. Ital-Thai is relying on the Burma Army to provide security for the project. Thai communities held protests in 2010 against plans to import coal from Mong Kok through the Mae Fah Luang district of Chiang Rai, and are continuing resistance against plans to shift the transport route through Mae Sai. They are also concerned about pollution of the Kok River, which flows from Mong Kok into Thailand, a vital water source for countless northern Thai communities and a famous tourist attraction. Local Thai authorities, academics and activists are scheduled to hold a public forum on 21/07/11 at Wat Jat Yot (Temple) in Chiang Rai about the impacts of the Mong Kok project.

Compiler’s note: The 8-page briefer, Save Mong Kok From Coal, referred to above, is available at http://www.shanland.org/images/docs/save-mong-kok-from-coal-eng.pdf . It provides additional information about the Mong Kok area, armed groups active there and a perspective on some of the environmental hazards involved with coal mining and power projects, as well as many local pictures and two maps of the Mong Kok area. A section headed ‘Current Status’ provides updated information about project activity as of mid-2011. “Saraburi Coal/Italian Thai has set up a company compound in Mong Kok, where Thai staff and workers stay. Over 100 Thai workers are being employed. One work team is using backhoes, ten-wheel trucks and drilling machines to dig for coal samples in different areas around Mong Kok. These samples have been sent regularly by truck to Thailand via Tachilek since 2010. Another team has been using bulldozers and ten-wheel trucks to upgrade the road leading south from Mong Kok to the Thai border. The road is now almost completed, but work is still continuing on the last section linking to the Thai border at Mae Jok, opposite Mae Fah Luang district, Chiang Rai province. A large area has been cleared at Mae Jok that appears to be a storage site for coal. A further team has been measuring and clearing land for the power plant in the west and south-east of Mong Kok. Trucks have been bringing in building materials, including stone, sand, steel and cement from Thailand to these sites since April 2011.”
Hseng Kio Fah, SHAN, 10/05/11. Adapted and condensed. http://www.bnionline.net/news/shan/10718-thai-coal-mining-in-burma-considers-handing-over-its-products-to-china.html

Saraburi Coal Co, a subsidiary of the Bangkok-based Ital-Thai Corporation, is prepared to ship coal it will produce at Mongkhok in Monghsat township in eastern Shan State to China, if residents of northern Thailand continue to oppose its plan to transport the coal by road through the area in which they live. The company has a concession granted by the Burmese government to develop a coal deposit in Mongkok that boasts at least 150 million tons of raw coal. It plans to ship the coal from Mongkok to Saraburi in central Thailand where it would be used as fuel in cement factories. But residents of northern Thailand through which trucks carrying as much as 5,000 tons of coal per day would pass are firmly opposed to the plan. Pakorn Ruamthong, a company representative, told a meeting held in the Thailand’s customs department in Chiangrai that the only alternative to shipments by road through northern Thailand would be to transport the coal it produces to China instead,.

Shan Women’s Action Network and Shan Human Rights Foundation, Burma Army tracks across Shan State (August 2010, 4pp) Excerpt. Edited.

http://www.shanhumanrights.org/images/stories/Action_Update/Files/burma-army-tracks-across-shan-state-english.pdf

The Burmese military regime is constructing a 361-km long railway between Mong Nai and Kengtung which will provide a rail link between southern and eastern Shan State for the first time. According to the regime’s media, 18 new railway stations and 461 bridges will be built along the route. They claim that the railway will promote the development of Shan State, facilitate passenger travel and contribute to the swift flow of commodities in the region. However, the speed and ruthlessness with which the railway is being carved through this isolated border area reveal a much more sinister agenda. The real purpose of the railway is strategic. In the event of an offensive against the UWSA, or the resistance forces of the Shan State Army-South, the railway will enable rapid deployment of heavy weapons and other military supplies to this remote mountainous area. Scores of bulldozers and trucks are at work at each end of the railway, where thousands of acres of farmlands have already been confiscated. . . . The new railway will facilitate transport of coal from Mong Kok, where the regime and Thai investors are planning to excavate millions of tons of lignite and build a coal-fired power plant for export of both coal and electricity to Thailand. Thousands of local villagers are being forcibly relocated to make way for the mining project, which will have severe toxic impacts on the local environment and the Kok River, which flows through northern Thailand.

Bangkok Post, 20/07/2010. Condensed.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/186917/2000-protest-lignite-mine-in-lampang

Organisations and villagers in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang and Mae Chan districts want authorities to ban the transport of lignite from a coal mine in Burma, Mae Fa Luang University rector Wanchai Sirichana said. They voiced their concerns at a meeting held by the university after learning up to 5,000 tonnes of lignite owned by Saraburi Coal Co, which holds a coal mine concession in Burma, will be transported daily through the two districts and tambon Pa Sang in Mae Chan will be used as a transit point before the coal is sent to fuel cement-making plants in Saraburi. Mr Wanchai quoted the participants at the meeting as asking: "How about people's health? And how do local motorists feel when they have to share the same roads with lignite-loaded trucks making 200 trips a day." Mr Wanchai said villagers are worried about the emission of dust from lignite and the threat of water pollution if the coal is allowed to be kept in tambon Pa Sang.

Shan Herald, 07/01/10. Edited and condensed.

http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2877:thai-firm-to-construct-a-coal-power-plant&catid=90:environment&Itemid=287

A report from the Thai-Burma border says an 11-member Thai business delegation recently visited Mong Kok sub-township, Monghsat township, opposite Thailand’s Chiangrai province. The delegation, led by an official of Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), visited the site on 24-25/12/09. The Thai business people were believed to be from Saraburi Coal Mining, a subsidiary of Ital-Thai, that has won a contract to mine the coal deposits in Mong Kok. According to the contract, Saraburi is also required to build a road from the coal mines to Thailand across the border near bases manned by the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). This has caused alarm among the local populace. It is also opposed by environmentalists and local people on the Thai side. As a result, the road project has yet to be implemented after a year.

Khuensai Jaiyen, The Nation (Bangkok), 02/05/08 http://www.mekongmigration.org/?p=85

The Ital-Thai company is reported to have been in talks with Burmese authorities since last year to begin digging for coal in the fertile valley of Mong Kok, about 20 kilometres north of Mongkarn. Already 120 Shan families have been forcibly evicted without compensation to make way for the mines, and a further 480 families face eviction. The mining area lies along the Kok River, and villagers are already complaining that the water has become polluted and unusable. As mining expands, the impact is likely to be felt as far downstream as Thailand, where the Kok River is a foremost tourist attraction.

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Appendix 26
MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY USED TO IMPROVE WOOD-FIRE COMBUSTION

September 2010

This article summarizes information available on the following websites.

http://www.biolitestove.com/BioLite.html

http://woofeed.com/Jonathan-Cedar-and-Alex-Drummonds-innovation-the-BioLite-stove/environment/Guardian

http://www.takepart.com/news/2009/10/26/exclusive-interview-with-biolite-founder

Useful diagrams and pictures can be found on the biolite stove website.

Open wood fires used by two to three billion people around the world for cooking are inefficient, wasting potential energy and creating toxic smoke due to incomplete combustion. Carefully designed stoves that use fans to blow air into the fire can dramatically improve combustion.
However, such stoves require small amounts of electricity to power their fans and most people who cook on wood are without grid or battery access. Biolite stoves solve this problem by converting a fraction of the fire’s thermal energy into electricity to power the combustion improvement system of the stove. Thermoelectric technology uses a semi conductor chip to produce electricity where one side is hot and the other is cool. In this way, the stove’s own waste heat runs the fan, which generates a very clean, hot combustion.
In rural and semi-urban areas of developing countries, the wood stoves used in cooking -- commonly known as three-stone fires – are inside the home, filling it with smoke. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.5 million people die every year from smoke inhalation related diseases. A distinct advantage of the Biolite stove is that secondary air injection system it employs reduces the amount of toxic smoke produced by as much 90-95%.
Biolite has the technique but the question is how to gain acceptance of this advanced stove system. There are serious cost considerations, and it’s been very difficult to get consumers to purchase the previous generation of improved woodstoves, which affected a 50-70% reduction in smoke. All of these are fairly good at reducing the amount of fuel used, but even those stoves at $10 are a hard sell. Producing ultra clean stoves, such as Biolite will probably mean a doubling of that cost, so part of the present work on the project is finding a way to structure the sale of the products so that they get into consumers hands. Making the stoves affordable could involve a combination of government and carbon financing.
In the meantime, prototype field testing has been conducted in Myanmar by International Development Enterprises (IDE) and, separately in the central highlands of Guatemala. Feedback received in Guatemala indicated that the Biolite approach would probably best be adapted to a two-pot variant of the design. The trial process in Myanmar also showed that the stoves were too small for the average family of five and that poor families would need to see more value before being ready to make a change. As a result the size of the stoves has been increased and the extra electricity produced is being made available to power small electronic devices such cell phones and LED lights. This robust BioLite mark II model is now in its first full field trial in India.
Further developments are expected at an international conference in Thailand in November 2010 where a mix of government agencies, foundations and manufacturers are gathering to discuss the path forward for these next generation stove technologies.
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Appendix 27
NAME-PLATE GENERATING CAPACITY OF GRID-LINKED POWER PLANTS IN MYANMAR
NLM, 16/12/10. Excerpt. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs09/NLM2010-12-16.pdf

[At the official commissioning of the Yeywa hydropower dam and plant, PM Thein Sein said that as the] “generating of electricity has been speeded up after 1988, a total of 15 hydropower plants including Yeywa hydropower plant, one coal-fired power plant and 15 gas power plants, totaling 31 across the nation are now generating 3045 megawatts. In addition, he said that out of 13 ongoing hydropower projects, Shwegyin Hydropower Project that can generate 75 megawatts and Kunchaung Hydropower Project that can generate 60 megawatts will be launched soon.”

Compiler’s note: The fifteen grid-linked hydropower plants operated by the Ministry of Electric Power No 1 up to the end of 2010 together with the year of commissioning include: 1) Yeywa, 780MW, 2010; 2) Kengtawng, 54MW, 2009; 3) Khabaung, 30MW, 2008; 4) Pathi, 2MW, 2008; 5) Yenwe, 25MW, 2007; 6) Paunglaung, 280MW, 2005; 7) Mone, 75MW, 2004; 8) Thaphanseik, 30MW, 2002; 9) Zaungtu, 20MW, 2000; 10) Zawgyi-1, 18MW, 1998; 11) Zawgyi-2, 12MW, 1995; 12) Balu-1, 28MW, 1992; 13) Sedawgyi, 25MW, 1989; 14) Kinda, 56MW, 1985; 15) Balu-2, 168MW, 1974 and 1960; for a total hydropower generating capacity of 1603MW The coal-fired steam plant at Tigyit, also operated by Ministry of Electric Power No 1, has a generating capacity of 120MW.
A list of the gas-fired and steam generating plants operated by the Ministry of Electric Power No 2 published in the New Light of Myanmar on 15 May 2009 together with the name plate capacity of each and date of commissioning is as follows: 1) Kyunchaung, 54.30MW, 1974; 2) Mann, 36.90MW, 1980; 3) Shwedaung, 55.35MW, 1984; 4) Myanaung 34.70MW, 1975; 5) Thaton, 50.95MW, 1985; 6) Mawlamyine, 12.00MW, 1980; 7) Hlawga, 99.90MW, 1995; 8) Hlawga (steam) 54.30MW, 1999; 9) Ywama, 60.90MW, 1980; 10) Ywama (steam), 9.40MW 2004; 11) Ahlon 99.90MW, 1995; 12) Ahlon (steam), 54.30MW, 1999; 13) Thakayta, 57.00MW, 1990; 14) Thakayta, (steam), 35.00MW, 1997; 15) Kanma, 8.72MW, 1998; for a total generating capacity of 723.62MW. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs07/NLM2009-05-15.pdf
The Shweli-1 hydopower plant, which is operated by the Yunnan United Power Development Co Ltd, has a generating capacity of 600MW and was commissioned in 2009. It is connected to grids in both Myanmar and Yunnan. According to media reports, 15pc of the power generated at Shweli-1 is designated for Myanmar.
The Tapein-1 hydropower plant, which is operated by Datang (Yunnan), has a generating capacity of 240 MW began operations in September 2010 and was officially commissioned in January 2011. It is connected to the grid in southern Kachin state in Myanmar, as well as to the grid in Yunnan. According to the operator 90pc of the power produced is designated for export to the PRC.
The Buga Co operates the 10.5-MW Mali Hka hydropower station in Kachin state which supplies power to Myitkyina and Waingmaw. The Wa Administration in Panghsang township in Northern Shan state operates the 8.5-MW Sonphu power plant that supplies power to the areas around Panghsang and Mong Pauk. Neither of these power plants is linked to the national grid or included in the official statistics produced by the government.
In January 2011, the first of four 18.75-MW turbine-generators at the Shwegyin hydropower plant in Bago region was brought online. The other three generators are scheduled to come on-line later in 2011.
Additional references
For an updated list on the generating and production capacities at the grid-linked hydro and thermal stations see Tables CP011 and CP012 below
NLM, 24/04/11. Excerpt. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-04-24.pdf

EPM-1 Zaw Min briefs the Special Projects Implementation Committee [of the Union Government] on the generation of electricity and ongoing electric power projects. A total of 17 power plants operated under the EPM-1 have an installed capacity of 2571 megawatts and [can] generate 13045.8 million kwh yearly. Fifteen gas power plants with installed capacity of 714.9 megawatts under EPM-2 can generate 5719.2 million kwh yearly. Together, the power plants under the two ministries have total installed capacity of 3285.9 megawatts that can produce 18765 million kwh per year. At present, the EPM-1 is developing 14 power supply projects, companies owned by national entrepreneurs’ companies are working on nine projects and foreign investors have 44 projects underway. These 67 projects will have a total installed capacity of 45378.5 megawatts.

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Appendix 28
MIDDLE PAUNGLAUNG HYDROPOWER PROJECT LAUNCHED

NLM, 25/01/11. Edited. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-01-25.pdf

On 24/01/11, the Middle Paunglaung hydropower project was launched at the project site about 20 miles northeast of Pyinmana. The project site is about two miles upstream of the bridge over the Paunglaung river on the inter-district road between Yamethin and Taung-gyi. It will be undertaken by Construction Group-1 of the Hydropower Implementation Dept. A concrete dam 272 feet high will be built across the Paunglaung river. Generators with a capacity of 100 MW are expected to produce about 500 million kWh per year. After the launch ceremony Deputy Minister Myo Myint and HPID D-G Myint Zaw inspected the sites chosen for the power intake tunnel, the dam and the hydropower plant.
Additional references
Data summary Middle Paunglaung
NLM, 24/04/11. Excerpt. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-04-24.pdf

EPM-1 Zaw Min briefs the Special Projects Implementation Committee [of the Union Government] on the Middle Paunglaung hydropower project which is under development. It will be located three miles ujpstream of the proposed bridge over the Paunglaung river on the Yamethin-Taunggyi road and and eight miles downstream from the Upper Paunglaung Dam, It will have an installed capacity of 100 MW that willl produce [up to] 500 million kwh yearly.

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Appendix 29
ELECTRIC IRRIGATION PUMP PROJECTS IN CENTRAL MYANMAR

Courier Information Service, March 2011 with additional information inserted in May 2011.

Irrigation projects in Myanmar are benefiting from the improved supply of electricity in the dry zone area of the central part of the country. The agriculture sector continues to play a leading role in the economy of Myanmar, contributing approximately 43% to the country’s GDP and giving employment to 65 – 70% of the population. However, in recent years, irrigation has become an important factor in improving the yields and outputs of basic crops such as rice, bean and pulses, maize and cotton. Figures issued by the Ministry of Agricuture and Irrigation indicate that two and a quarter million hectares or 17.2pc of the cropped land in the country benefited from irrigation of one kind or another in FY 2007-08.
Traditionally much of the water used in crop irrigation came from village tanks or ponds, streams and small rural dams. Beginning in the middle eighties, however, international aid financing led to the development of huge multi-purpose dams and irrigation projects. The largest of these, the Thaphanseik dam on the Mu river in Kyunhla township, alone is reported to have a command area of 530,000 acres (214,500h) and a hydropower capacity of 30 MW. Seven other large multipurpose projects reportedly with a combined irrigation capacity of 700,000 acres (283,000h) and capable of generating 528 MW are now operational and at least four others are scheduled to come on-line in the near term.
A second major development over the last dozen years has been the push to harness the waters of the country’s major rivers for irrigation purposes. As of March 2011, it was reported that 327 pump stations capable of irrigating over 500,000 acres (200,000h) of cropland had been set up along the banks of the Irrawaddy, the Chindwin, the Sittaung and their tributaries, particularly in the Kyaukse plain region. The great advantage of the pump projects has been the location of most of them in the so-called 'dry zone'¹ of the central part of the country where the rainfall varies between 500mm – 1000mm (20 – 40 inches) per year, but others are being developed in the area around Yangon, as well as in the Irrawaddy delta which provides a large share of the national rice crop.
The river water pump projects, as well as a counterpart program to set up pump stations at artesian wells in the dry zone, come under the aegis of the Water Resources Utilization Dept of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation which is also responsible for preparing the network of canals, drains and irrigation structures for each of these projects. According to the WRUD, a total of 189,000 hectares of cropped land received irrigation water through stations maintained by the department in 2007-08². Of this total, roughly 75% (141,000h) were being irrigated by electrically operated pump stations, while the remaining projects used diesel fueled engines. The largest of these pump projects, 22 in number, which irrigate over half of the cropped land covered by pump projects, are all dependent on connections to the electrical grid.
The significance of this development in a country in which electrical service outside of the larger towns and cities has been virtually non-existent until very recently cannot be overestimated. For many of the pump irrigation projects it has meant that long and expensive transmission and distribution lines as well as substations have had to be set up to provide the necessary connections to the nearest point on the national grid.
The Yebudalin project which pumps water from the Chindwin about 40km northwest of Monywa in central Myanmar is a case in point. According to the WRUD, the project, which began in 2001 and was completed in 2006, has benefited over 16,000h of dry cropland in Budalin township. To reach the targeted area the water had to be pumped up through four stages, first to a height of 63 feet and and then up another 40 feet. A 300,000-gallon storage tank was built and transformers had to be installed near the sub-pump stations. Canals over 173,000 feet long (53km) were dug and structures for the distribution of the water set up.³ Gunkul Engineering which contracted to supply the 132-KV transmission lines (73 km) and the electrical equipment for a 132/66/11kV, 45-MVA substation reported that its bill alone amounted to $US 2.3 million.⁴
The Ngathayauk project takes water from the Irrawaddy at a point about 40 km southwest of Myingyan and uses it to irrigate crops of paddy, cotton and edible oil on 3500 hectares. Its main canal is 56,400 feet (17km) long and there are tributary canals 225,000 feet (31.5km) long. Besides the main pump station, there are 17 relay stations. To electrify the Ngathayauk project 36.7 km of 66-KV transmission lines connecting the pump station on the Irrawaddy with the main station in Myingyan.⁵
One of the most elaborate pump projects in Myanmar will see water from the Nampat river of the Myitnge watershed in Lawksawk (Yaksauk) township pumped over a height of land in western Shan state into the Zawgyi river system from where it will flow down to the Myogyi dam still under construction in Yengan (Ywangan) township. From there it will be diverted through a series of canals to eventually irrigate over 12000 hectares of crop land in Wundwin and Thazi townships on the Meiktila plain in Mandalay Region. The electricity to drive the pumps needed for this massive project will be tapped from the Zawgi and Myogyi power stations.⁶
Experiments with the use of paddy husk-fired generators as the source of electrical power are being conducted on two river pump projects in Lower Myanmar. In the village of Thayawe in Kyaiklat township the WRUD has harnessed a generator that uses six baskets of husks and can lift 90,000 gals of water from four to six feet. The same generator is being used for lighting the homes and operating a rice mill in the village.⁷ At the Balar pump project-2 (ELSF040) near Highway 3 in Mingaladon township water is being lifted up 15 feet from the Ngamoeyeik dam canal by three sets of 30-HP, 22-kW pumps that can be operated either by a diesel or a paddy husk-fired generator. The project is said to benefit 700 acres of farmland stretching along canals that are nine km in length. According to the WRUD, the dual fuel system helps reduce diesel consumption by two-thirds and saves K 17,730 per acre in paddy field costs. The paddy is purchased from local farmers at K200 per basket. Photos of the pump and generator and the irrigation system in operation are included with the article in NLM.⁸ In Central Myanmar, four 100-kw paddy-husk fired generators are being used to operate four 20-tuset pumps that lift water from the Dohtawady river 31 feet to irrigate 3000 acres of farmland near Sunye lake in Singaing township in Mandalay Region. The 20-inch pipelines are approximately 170 feet long. The gasifier system used in the project was innovated by U Po Thee of Mandalay. ¹¹

Energy costs are a large factor in determining whether irrigated crops – summer paddy in particular -- will prove profitable to farmers. Speaking at a regional workshop on rice-based irrigation systems in Ho Chi Minh city in 2005, U Maung Maung Naing of the Myanmar Irrigation Dept pointed out that water tariffs for fields irrigated by diesel engine pumps were twice that charged for electric pumps⁹. Not surprisingly, commercial farmers with large acreages fed by pump projects are not backward in pressing the case for the necessary infrastructure to be set up to have their fields irrigated by electrical pumps¹⁰. Cost-benefit analysis studies, if they have been made, are so far not available for public scrutiny, but one must wonder how long it will take for the water tariff rates of electrical pump projects to be able to cover the heavy infrastructure and maintenance expenses involved in these projects. Only a system in which the costs of transmission lines, substations and all the other electrical infrastructure needed were shared by residential, commercial and other industrial users would appear to offer a viable solution.

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¹For a map of the area covered by the dry zone see Slide 13 at the following URL

http://www.climateadapt.asia/upload/events/files/4c849c0062adeMyanmar.pdf
²Fiscal 2007-08 is the last year for which detailed statistical information is available at the beginning of 2011. Unlike its counterpart, the Irrigation Dept, which has responsibility for the government’s rural dam construction program, the WRUD does not publish a list of the pump projects it has completed or is currently working on. However, information gleaned from state media reports provides details of at least 123 projects (about 40pc) of the total of 327 said to be fully or partially operational. 22 of the known projects (roughy 7% of the 327) were reported to have irrigation command areas of 4000 hectares or more. The acreage covered by these 22 large projects amounts to well over half of the total of the 189,000 hectares irrigated by pump projects.
³For details of the Yebudalin pump project, see the following editions of the New Light of Myanmar: http://www.myanmargeneva.org/01nlm/n010802.htm#%283%29

http://www.myanmargeneva.org/02nlm/n020420.htm#%28%201%20%29

http://www.myanmargeneva.org/06nlm/n060304.htm
⁴See GK Power Systems: http://www.gkmyanmar.com/references.php?show=1&details=24
⁵For details of the Ngathayauk pump project, see p7 of NLM for 15/05/10:

http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs08/NLM2010-05-15.pdf See also p27 of the Myanmar Country Report in the following ESCAP report: Country Report Myanmar on Infrastructure Development with a focus on Public Private Partnerships (PPP), 2007. http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/ppp/reports/Myanmar_6july2007.pdf
⁶For details of the Kengkham-Myogyi-Meiktila diversion project, see the following editions of NLM:

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs2/NLM2005-08-19.pdf

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs2/NLM2006-08-27.pdf

http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs07/NLM2009-04-27.pdf
⁷For details of the WRUD’s paddy husk-fired electric pump project at Thayawe, see the following editions of NLM: http://www.myanmargeneva.org/02nlm/n021231.htm http://www.myanmargeneva.org/03nlm/n030905.htm
⁸For details of the Barlar pump project-2, see the print edtion for 08/01/09 of NLM:

http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2009-01-08.pdf
⁹Maung Maung Naing, "Paddy field irrigation systems in Myanmar" in Proceedings of the regional workshop on the future of large rice-based irrigations systems in Southeast Asia, pp 120-30 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: 26-28 Oct 2005). ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/ai408e/ai408e01.pdf
¹⁰The interests of commercial farming companies with large estates in Ywangan township appear to have been behind questions raised on this subject in the first parliamentary session in Nay Pyi Taw in March 2011. See ELPS026 above.
¹¹For details and photos of the paddy-husk generators and pipelines, consult the print edition of the NLM for 23/05/11. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-05-23.pdf