Electrical industry of burma/myanmar

PLANS FOR 7-MILLION-DOLLAR RICE-HUSK POWER PLANT EDGE FORWARD

Kyaw Thu, Myanmar Times, 27/08/07. http://www.mmtimes.com/no381/b005.htm

It will likely be several more months before the government signs an MoU with a Japanese organisation for the construction of a US$7-million rice-husk electricity plant, an official with the A&IM said. The power plant planned for Dedaye in Ayeyarwady Division will be the biggest of its kind in Myanmar and is aimed at cutting long-term costs for rice millers in the area.
A target for starting the three-year construction project lapsed in January. “The Japanese side wants to sign the MoU as soon as possible,” said the ministry official. He added that the government was currently reprocessing financial data in preparation for the signing.
The Japanese government is providing the rice-husk power plant at a cost thought to be over US$6 million. Installation will be carried out by the Japan government’s alternative energy research arm, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation. The Myanmar government is to loan the Myanmar Rice Millers Association (MRMA) $780,000 to cover construction costs at the six-acre site 70km from Yangon.
The association aims to make this money back once the plant is running by selling electricity to 13 rice mills and one ice factory in the area, MRMA joint S-G Win Aye Pe told The Myanmar Times. The plant will produce a total of 1500 kW per day through consumption of three tonnes of rice husks and will be able to distribute 1000 kW to millers. A third of the plant’s output is required to keep it running.
Once completed – likely in early 2011 – the power plant will be operated by a committee comprising local authorities and representatives of the A&IM and the EPM No 2. “We will provide training to workers employed at the rice-husk power plant and send some overseas (for advanced training),” the agriculture ministry official said. The official also noted that the growing number of smaller rice-husk electricity generators being set up in Myanmar – particularly in Yangon division and Mon state – was beginning to drive up the price of rice husks.
Additional references
See above: ‘Rice husk gasifiers to spur rural electrification’ (MT: 21/07/08)

‘Village rice husk power plant will serve as research centre’ (MT: 24/09/07)

See below: ‘Rice-husk generators slated for villages in Yangon division' (MT: 11/06/07)

'Inventor co-op society exports first rice-husk generators' (MT: 21/08/06)

'Interest growing in rice-husk generation’ (MT: 10/07/06)

'Paddy husk power plant tested to cut rice milling costs' (MT: 19/12/05)

'Biogas power plants supply electricity to rural areas’ (MT: 16/08/04)

'Biomass gasifier used for tobacco curing in Myingyan’ (TERI: 08/04)

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FUEL PRICE INCREASE IMPACTS INDUSTRIAL USE OF ELECTRICITY

Irrawaddy On-line, 15/08/07. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8250

The retail price of compressed natural gas in Burma has more than tripled in a new round of fuel cost increases that threaten to close down many businesses. Prices of other fuels doubled. CNG —compressed natural gas — increased in price by more than 300pc, jumping from K600 ($US0.46) for a 50-liter canister to K2,175 ($1.60). The price of diesel oil doubled, from K1,500 ($1.15) to K3,000 ($2.30), while a gallon of gasoline rose from K1,500 to K2,500 ($1.90).
The owner of a Rangoon printing house told The Irrawaddy the rise in the price of diesel made it impossible for him to continue his business. He said the diesel oil he used to generate his electricity already cost him K7 million ($53,850) a month. A wholesale trader who also runs a vehicle rental business in Rangoon said, “Everyone is now very depressed and disappointed.”
The black market price of diesel oil has risen from K3,000 – K3,200 ($2.30 - $2.40) a gallon to K4,000 - K5,000 ($3.00 - $3.80), and some outlets have stopped selling it altogether. City bus fares have also doubled, Rangoon residents reported.
Meanwhile, the price of gold on the Burmese market rose today from K464,000 ($356) to K469,000 ($360) per kyattha (16.33 grams).
Additional references
See above: ‘Chaungzon supplied with electricity at a big loss’ (NLM: 29/03/11)

‘Small businesses, factories struggle to keep up with rising fuel prices’ (IRROL: 06/03/08)

'Petrol subsidies and the price of electricity' (Burma Digest: 02/09/07)

See below: 'Electricity rates raised, subsidies for civil servants dropped' (AP: 15/05/06)

Jessica Jaganathan, Reuters, 18/11/11. Condensed.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/myanmars-diesel-imports-40-pct-economic-growth-traders-094137628.html

Myanmar's monthly diesel imports have increased by more than 40 percent since October to fuel its growing manufacturing, agriculture and transport sectors. Imports have increased from 35,000 tonnes to about 50,000 tonnes a month currently, according to estimates by three sources dealing directly with the country's diesel market. The increase is seen mainly due to higher demand from private importers rather than the government, as well as the end of the April-to-October monsoon season, they said. "Since the government privatised the imports of diesel, many private companies are negotiating to buy diesel from us now," one of the suppliers who declined to be named said. Burma imports 0.5 percent sulphur gasoil from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai and Singapore, industry sources said. It is one of the last few countries in Asia to still use the high sulphur gasoil, mainly for transportation, agriculture and power generation.

Myo Myo, Energy Supplement, Myanmar Times, 21/07/08. http://www.mmtimes.com/feature/energy08/feamain.htm

Bio-ethanol fuel is now used widely in vehicles and generators in Lower Myanmar, according to industry experts. Bio-ethanol is cheaper than other fuels -- it costs only K2500 per gallon in Yangon while in Mandalay the price is K2,500. But, while the price of bio-ethanol is lower than petrol, it’s less efficient and consumes 20pc more fuel. “Water pumps and other generators can use bio-fuel so now some people are running their water pumps and generators on bio-ethanol, especially in Ayeyarwady division,” U Thoung Win of the Yangon Renewable Energy Research and Development Committee said. U Thoung Win said the government was in the process of drafting legislation to govern the production of bio-fuels, which in Myanmar are usually made from either sugar cane, nipa palm, potato, sorghum, cassava or palmyara. He said that while there were global concerns the production of bio-fuels was reducing food production and contributing to the global food crisis, this was unlikely to be a problem in Myanmar. “There are many unused areas of Myanmar that can be used to grow crops, so we don’t need to worry about that aspect of food security.”

DVB, 25/02/08. http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=998

The official electricity quota for households in Tharawaddy is six hours per day, but some residents have complained they are only getting two hours of electricity a day, while others get only four hours a week. But one resident said that those who paid the extra money were being given greater access to electricity. Locals who can afford it have chosen to pay the money, particularly those whose businesses could not run without electricity. "It's still a lot cheaper than running our own generators and spending money on fuel to run them, because 5,000 kyat of fuel will not even last one hour," the resident said. Township power supply officials told DVB they were providing six hours' electricity per day to each area of the township on a staggered basis.

Ye Lwin, Myanmar Times, 14/01/08. http://www.mmtimes.com/no401/b001.htm

Maj Gen Thein Swe, chairman of the Export and Import Supervisory Cte, told a meeting of the UMFCCI of plans that would allow organisations and private businesses to apply to the Trade Council for fuel import licences. U Myat Thin Aung of the Myanmar Industrial Ass’n said industrialists want to import fuel, especially diesel. He said demand for diesel is definitely on the rise in the manufacturing sector. Sometimes it takes three months for us to get enough fuel through the current importing process, he said. Myanmar mainly imports diesel from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The imports place a heavy drain on the nation’s currency reserves. Ministry of Energy statistics show that Myanmar produces about 80 million gallons of diesel each year for domestic consumption but imports account for some 330 million gallons a year. Diesel consumption has tripled in the last decade while the thirst for petrol has doubled. Industry insiders say construction projects – especially the building of dams and hydropower projects – are pushing up the price of fuel because they require so much energy and fuel to build. Domestic energy experts say that the cost of importing fuel in 2007 was about US$600 million.

Ye Lwin and Aung Kyi, Myanmar Times, 31/12/07. http://www.mmtimes.com/no399/b006.htm

Pun Hlaing International Hospital, operated by First Myanmar Investment will be re-organised In an attempt to staunch losses, said U Theim Wai, company chairman, at the 15th annual general meeting on December 18. Starting from January 1, the company will launch a series of cost-controlling programs including the reduction of the workforce from 430 staff members to about 200. U Theim Wai said to make the hospital profitable within the next 18 months. He said that FMI’s management did a feasibility study before the hospital was built but he admitted that there was difficultly in fully evaluating the country’s market and conditions. He said location, expenditure and electricity supplies were criteria that the feasibility study did not correctly evaluate. Pun Hlaing hospital is situated in the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, which is at least one hour’s drive from downtown Yangon. This location makes visits difficult and undesirable for patients, physicians and surgeons. Another unexpected cost has been electricity. U Theim Wai said that before the hospital was granted a special power line by the Yangon Electricity Supply Board, generator costs were about K2 million a day. “Now that the authorities have provided us with a special power line, we can tighten our belts to some extent,” he said. Another cost reduction, he announced is reducing the hospital’s operating area to only one third of total floor space.

Wai Moe, IRROL, 26/12/07. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=9743

In mid-August the government increased the price of subsidized fuels, creating severe problems for transport operators and people already struggling with soaring prices for food and other essential goods and services. The inflation rate approached 50 percent at the end of 2007, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. “Owners are afraid to extend their businesses at the moment,” said a successful businessman who works in one industrial zone. “We [businessmen] think all business situations are uncertain after the crackdown on protesters [in August and September].” An additional factor is the lack of electricity. Since November, electricity distribution has been irregular in Rangoon with long outages. Disruptions grew worse this month, with many residents experiencing about five hours of electricity daily. In many industrial zones there is no electricity from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., forcing factories to operate only in the day time. Running private generators to supply electricity is no longer an option for many businesses, since diesel fuel sells for around 5,000 kyat (about US $3.9) a gallon, said a factory owner.

Myanmar Times, 17/12/07. http://mmtimes.com/no397/n002.htm

A challenge for hotels at the popular Ngwe Saung beach resort in Ayeyawaddy division is supplying electricity to guests. “All the hotels have to run their own generators and buying diesel adds about K15,000 a room to the cost of running the hotel each day,” said U Maung Maung Aye, manager of the Silver View Hotel. While many hotels run their generators from 6pm to 6am some of the bigger resorts keep them on 24 hours a day.

Alfred Oehlers, IRROL, 22/08/07. [excerpt] http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8318

Burma is essentially a diesel-powered economy. We see this in the buses, trains and trucks that rumble around the country. We also see this in the dilapidated power plants that sometimes generate electricity. Most of all, we see this in the ubiquitous portable generators that exist in nearly every home, factory and shop that can afford one. For a long time now, diesel prices have been kept artificially low through subsidies. But as demand for diesel has continued to grow in tandem with an expanding economy, the amount spent on these subsidies has similarly expanded, posing an ever increasing strain on the regime’s finances. The only solution has been to import diesel, since Burma’s ageing refineries simply cannot refine crude volumes sufficient to meet demand. And as this is usually done at spot market prices, it is an extremely costly solution.

Shah Paung, IRROL, 16/0807. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8266

Higher gas and diesel prices have also raised the cost of transporting goods, where companies in the former capital have been forced to rely on black market sales of diesel. The price of black market diesel has gone up from about K3,000 ($2.26) to as much as K5,000 ($3.77).

IRROL, 21/10/05. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=5109

Burma has a quota system for the allocation of fuel to car owners who receive vouchers that allow them to receive up to 60 gallons of fuel each month at a cost of K180 (US$ 0.14) per gallon. The ninefold price increase on 19/10/05 raised the price of subsidized gasoline to to K1,500 ($1.22) per gallon, while diesel fuel used primarily in the industrial sector rose to around K4,000 ($3.26).

Myanmar Times, [April, 2002?]. [not available on-line]

Six months ago [MT: 15/10/01], the EM Lun Thi, told the Myanmar Times that the ministry was distributing 7.5 million gals of petrol and 16 to 19 million gals of diesel a month. Meanwhile, diesel consumption by generators has fallen dramatically since the EPM began providing 10 hours of electricity a day to all IZs in Yangon late last month. An official of Myanmar Petroleum Products said daily diesel consumption at factories in the Shwepyitha IZ No 2 had dropped 50pc to 4,170 gals. The improvement in the power supply had also enabled the South Dagon IZ to save 5,000 gals a day.

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RELIABLE POWER SUPPLY GIVES ADVANTAGE TO THAI SHRIMP FARMERS

Sann Oo, Myanmar Times, 13/08/07. www.mmtimes.com/no379/b002.htm

Myanmar shrimp farmers should work harder to acquire quality-recognition certificates to better tap export markets as well as build a more skilled labour base, an official from the Myanmar Shrimp Association (MSA) said after returning from a research trip to Thailand. The MSA sent a 14-member delegation to Thai shrimp farms last month to learn from the neighbouring country’s success in producing and exporting the seafood.
Association chairman Hla Maung Shwe, who led the delegation on the July 23-26 trip to shrimp farms, hatcheries and processing plants in southern Thailand, said Myanmar’s organisational structures and labour practices paled in comparison with those used in the neighbouring kingdom. “They use advanced farming technologies, like farming under a roof in a controlled environment, which helps them achieve a higher level of production,” U Hla Maung Shwe said. Greater productivity meant lower per-unit costs, he explained. “They can produce like factories. Their production runs according to a schedule, and they don’t have to worry about the weather.”
The high quality of Thai shrimp was also recognised worldwide, U Hla Maung Shwe said. “They pass all the international quality-assurance standards. Most of their farms have quality certificates, and that’s one of the most import things if you’re going to compete in the world market. “It’s something our farmers need to practice more widely.” He added that Myanmar’s workforce also appeared to lag behind their Thai counterparts. “They only need a few workers compared to our farms and most of their workers are very skilful,” U Hla Maung Shwe said.
The MSA delegation visited Thailand at the invitation of the Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, which U Hla Maung Shwe said provides about 10pc of the 500,000 tonnes of shrimp Thailand exports annually. By comparison, Myanmar exported some 25,000 tonnes of prawns in 2006-07, earning US$120 million. Of this, only $13 million came from shrimp farms, with most prawns sourced from the open seas. Myanmar farmers should take whatever lessons they can from Thailand as they chase a bumped-up export target of $60 million this fiscal year, U Hla Maung Shwe said. “Some of their methods are not so different from what we do here, while others are much more advanced. And although we can’t make investments like they do at the moment, there are other good things we can take from them.”
Something Myanmar shrimp farmers likely wish they could take from Thailand is a reliable electricity supply, which U Hla Maung Shwe said put producers there at an advantage because they did not need to run more expensive diesel generators. “They can get electricity to run the machines at their farms,” he said. “And they can easily transport their products to processing factories in a short time.”
Additional references
See above: ‘Electricity supply key to industry shift to Myanmar’ (MT: 16/08/10)

See below: 'Fisheries factories offered 24-hour power' (MT: 09/07/07)

Singu Soe Win, NLM, 02/12/08. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2008-12-02.pdf

Kyaukpyu sea prawn incubation farm is in Zetiya Village, 3 km from Kyaukpyu town . It consists of an office, light-proof buildings, 14 nursery tanks, two incubation tanks, two seawater tanks, two pasteurization tanks, and a filtering tank. Adult female prawns are bred in a single light-proof water tank. Once they they conceive eggs, they are transferred to another tank. The newly-laid eggs are invisible to the naked eye. Tiger prawns hatch and grow up in the dark. A female tiger prawn lays about 2,000,000 eggs in her lifespan. Since the mother tiger prawn grew up in the sea, the shrimps can be raised only on a sea shore line. Tiger shrimps are kept in seawater with the PPT rate between 28 and 30 in the dark for 45 days. After the 45-day period, when a shrimp has grown to the size of a match stick, they are sold to private prawn breeders. By making an investment of 25,000 kyats, a breeder can make a healthy profit of over 2.5 million kyats from a tiger prawn. However, raising prawns is a demanding task. The whole business is paused in the rainy season when there are no customers. But, the power generator has to keep operating round the clock because babies and the mother tiger prawn have no resistance to light at all.

Sann Oo, Myanmar Times, 21/07/08. http://www.mmtimes.com/no428/business.htm

Myanmar's shrimp farming industry is struggling to compete with neighbouring countries because of high global fuel prices, the chairman of the Myanmar Shrimp Association said last week. “We have to rely on diesel to run the machines, such as motors for paddlewheels, at our shrimp farms while other countries like Thailand and Vietnam have electricity at their farms,” association chairman Hla Maung Shwe said. Shrimp farms need the paddlewheel aerators to enhance splashing in the water, which speeds up evaporation, increasing the salinity of the pond water. He said shrimp farmers in other countries have much better electricity access, which helps them to keep production costs low. “About 92pc of farms in Thailand and Vietnam are connected to the power grid ... but we have to use the diesel to run the motor,” he said, adding that the average cost of the one kilowatt hour of electricity is just K100, while diesel costs about K450 per kilowatt hour, he said.

Alfred Oehlers, IRROL, 22/08/07. [excerpt] http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=8318

Burma is essentially a diesel-powered economy. We see this in the buses, trains and trucks that rumble around the country. We also see this in the dilapidated power plants that sometimes generate electricity. Most of all, we see this in the ubiquitous portable generators that exist in nearly every home, factory and shop that can afford one. For a long time now, diesel prices have been kept artificially low through subsidies. But as demand for diesel has continued to grow in tandem with an expanding economy, the amount spent on these subsidies has similarly expanded, posing an ever increasing strain on the regime’s finances. The only solution has been to import diesel, since Burma’s ageing refineries simply cannot refine crude volumes sufficient to meet demand. And as this is usually done at spot market prices, it is an extremely costly solution.

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PREMIUM RATES FOR ELECTRICITY IN MON VILLAGES

Banyol Kin, IMNA, 03/08/07. http://www.monnews-imna.com/2007/augupdate.php?ID=705

Ironical as it may seem, Burma which is the richest in terms of gas reserves among south-east Asian countries has one of the poorest power supplies at home. It is now allowing the private sector to supply electricity in Mon State .

A private company KTO (Ko Than Oo and Brothers Electric Mart) is supplying electricity twice a day from 6pm to 10pm and 4am to 7am to about ten villages in Ye township. "When we subscribed four months ago, we had to pay K110,000 (US$86.60) for the meter board, and for electricity we paid whatever was consumed. For our house we have to pay about K300,000 ($236.00) but now it has increased. A meter board now costs K150,000 ($118)," said a consumer in Ye township. The private firm's charge for one unit of electricity is equal to the price of one bottle (six bottles = 1gal) of diesel which costs about K700 ($0.50) compared to normal public sector electricity per-unit cost of K50 ($0.03).

"Everybody is keen on having electricity but it is difficult to get a connection. We applied last year but have not got it yet. When we ask them they keep saying next month every time," said a Mudon town resident.

In some places like Chaungzone township (10.5mi from Moulmein) gas-fired generators have been set up using paddy husks from the villages. But power is not available all the time. When it is on, it is only from 6pm to 10pm. In the Moulmein area, 12 MW of electricity is currently available to the public, while 22 MW is available for Mon State, according to the state electrical engineer interviewed by telephone.

The military government cannot fulfill the demand for power, although the country is rich in natural gas and its Yadana gas is being sold to Thailand for generating electricity. Yadana gas is piped from the field to the gas grid that supplies the Ratchaburi and Wang Noi power plants in the Bangkok region (total capacity of 6400 MW, with Yadana gas used to generate 2500 MW). Around 70pc of the power generated in Thailand is gas-fired, using local gas resources supplemented by gas from Myanmar's Yadana and Yetagun fields.
Additional references
See above: ‘Chaungzon supplied with electricity at a big loss’ (NLM: 29/03/11)

‘Regular power service restored in Mon and Karen States’ (IMNA: 22/10/09)

See below: 'Acute shortage of electricity disappoints Mon residents’ (IMNA: 21/02/07)

'Private operators meet need for alternative power service’ (MT: 03/02/02)
IMNA, 08/07/08. http://bnionline.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4441&Itemid=1

Residents of villages in Mudon, Thanphuzayat and Ye townships who paid the Ministry of Electric Power to setup power lines have started switching to private companies to get electricity installed. "My family paid about one million kyat but the nothing has happened so far. Now electricity is available because we changed to a private company," said a villager in Mudon township. Others are also interested in buying electricity from private players, but a majority are finding it difficult because they have already applied for government power. Private electricity is paid by units and the price is equal to a bottle (six bottles per gallon) of diesel at K 4200. "We can cook, watch TV, and light up well. Depending on usage we have to pay more. We pay about K 10,000 a month for electricity," a private electricity consumer told IMNA. Ko Than Oo & Brothers, a firm close to Tenasserim based military commander, runs a private power generating company in northern Ye township. A majority of private power generators use diesel. The private company is telling people that they will provide electricity if the 160 families from a village apply.

IMNA, 30/06/08. http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1066

Villagers in Mon State are being deprived of power supply despite spending money to apply for electricity connections. In Hnee-padaw and Kwan-hlar in Mudon Township they paid about K 0.6 million per house and have to pay more to get the power line installed in their houses. "We applied for electricity supply over a year ago. The authorities told us that we would get it in February 2008, but we have not received it yet," said a Hnee-padaw villager. "We had to pay about K 5 million to the village council for the recommendation before applying. Despite the payment, the VPDC did not arrange for electricity supply. The money collected was meant to be a bribe," said a villager who applied in Hnee-padaw. About 1,000 out of 1,500 households in Hnee-padaw village applied to get connected. The remaining households wanted to apply, but they were apprehensive that even after paying they would not get a connection. Not only Hnee-padaw village but Kwan-hlar also paid about K 2 million after shelling out K 0.6 million for an electric box, according to a Kwan-hlar villager. "Sein-taung village in Mudon Township got electric boxes which cost over 0.8 million Kyat per house for electricity supply. But they only got power for about one or two hours for two days," said the villager. While the wait continues some private business firms are using fuel engines to distribute electricity among villagers. Villagers also have to pay on a weekly or monthly basis.

IMNA, 24/12/07. http://www.bnionline.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3238&Itemid=6

Most villages in Mon State are trying to get power by spending their own funds. Karoat-pi (Kayokpi) village in Thanphyuzayart township has spent about K 100 million to extend electric poles and have more transformers. A household has to pay K 0.7 million including K 0.3 million for electric meter boxes and K 0.4 million for electric poles and other costs. Some people say that they would spend that amount if they could get electricity regularly. Others have not sbuscribed because they don't have faith in the government's ability to supply electric power. Moreover the government raised the cost of electricity about 10-fold in 2006 and since August 2007 it costs about K 50 per kilowatt hour. The township electric service also charges K 500 per month for maintenance purposes.

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