Electrical industry of burma/myanmar

Additional references for the metering program outside of Yangon area:
See above: ‘Electricity metering program taking root’ (IMNA: 11/05/07)
Additional references for Yangon power supply and demand

See above ‘Gas in short supply to meet demand for electricity (MT: 17/09/07)

‘More gas needed for 24/7 power in Yangon (MT: 02/07/07)

‘Full power supply promised for July (MT: 04/06/07)

See below ‘Pipeline to solve electricity shortages’ (MT: 16/09/02)

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INDUSTRIAL SECTOR TO BENEFIT FROM ATTENTION TO POWER SUPPLY

NLM, 23/07/06. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/06nlm/n060723.htm

The Industrial Development Cte held its coordination meeting 1/2006 in Nay Pyi Taw with an address by its Chairman, PM Soe Win. General Soe Win said that as the industrial sector of the State commences to transform from mainly agro-based industries to full industrialization, the Government is making arrangements for the development of the electric power sector in conformity with that of the industrial sector. To highlight the need for power in the industrial sector, separate electric power ministries had been created: No 1 and No 2, each with its assigned duties for the production and supply of electricity.
In the past, the Government took responsibility for large- and medium-scale production of electric power, and entrepreneurs of the private sector were permitted to produce electricity on a medium scale and micro scale. At present, localized and nationalized plans are being implemented to carry out production and supply of power. The Government’s large- and medium-scale hydel power projects will have to generate about 5,000 megawatts. Presently, these hydel power plants are producing 1,500 megawatts, a significant increase if compared to the past. Furthermore, the plan is being carried out to extend the national power grid in order to connect it to the hydel power projects under construction.
When progress is made in generating localized power and implementing large-scale hydropower projects and national grid extension projects, industries in the entire nation including the Myaungdaga fertilizer factory and foundries, and the Thanlyin and Thilawa special industrial zones will gain momentum. This will ensure parallel development of industrial sector with the electric power sector.
With regard to industrial development, in the final year of the [present government’s] third five-year plan in 2005-2006, “the industrial sector contributed 17.5pc to the GDP of the nation. Sustained efforts are to be made to develop the industrial sector’s contribution towards GDP by 18.9pc in 2006-2007, the first year of the fourth five-year plan, by 20.9pc in the second year, and to 23.3pc, 25.9pc and 28.9pc in the next years”.

the last year of the third five-year short-term plan, the industrial sector contributed 17.5 per cent to the GDP of the nation. Sustained efforts are thus to be made to develop the industrial sector’s contribution towards the GDP by 18.9 per cent in 2006-2007, the first year of the fourth five-year plan, by 20.9 per cent in the second year, by 23.3 per cent, 25.9 per cent and 28.9 per cent in the next years.

The electric power plants constructed in the third five-year plan are now in operation and they will produce electricity with increasing momentum year by year. So, the private sector, organizations concerned and the government should strive in harness to raise the industrial sector, enhance industrial development and ensure take-off. . . .
The PM said there are good prospects in the agricultural sector. Various kinds of industries with good prospects such as rice and its products, beans and pulses, wheat, fish and meat, forest, rubber and cotton are to be set up. The oil palm industry which started with cultivation projects has moved to refining. It has emerged due to high morale, perseverance, diligence, risk-taking and confidence in the government. Priority should be given to the establishment of cultivation-to-production industries.
In implementing rural development tasks, efforts are to be made to supply power to rural areas and the invention of physic nut oil-driven machinery. Under the guidance of the Head of State, cultivation of phycis nut is being undertaken nationwide. Within two years, the use of physic nut oil will be wider, the PM said. Ethanol would be produced from sugarcane soon. In the future, bio-gas production will develop. Therefore, industries that can apply the use of ethanol and physic nut [oil] should be founded.

The hydro-electric power industry, the gem and mining industry and energy, electrical, transport and communication sectors will also improve gradually.

He said more electricity and natural gas will be used in the very near future. Extensive measures are also being taken to improve technological and educational standards and to develop technological courses and research in factories and plants. The State will take steps also to develop the industrial sector more significantly by conducting more research. Greater co-operation is needed if the correct policies and guidance of the Head of State are to meet success. The development of industrial sector requires characteristics such as speed, skill and flexibility. Strenuous efforts are needed if the industrial sector is overcome the difficulties which hinder its development.
Additional references
See above: Yangon industrialists urged to increase production (NLM: 12/03/07)

See below: ‘Industrialists urged to diversify production (MT: 09/0106)

See also other articles under ‘Industrial Use of Electricity’ IU
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BUSINESS LEADERS TO PAY FOR NEW POWER SUB-STATIONS

Ye Lwin, Myanmar Times, 17/07/06.

(Compiler’s note: Issue 325 of the Myanmar Times is not available on-line.)
The Yangon Electricity Supply Board (YESB) on July 5 called on business leaders to set up new power supply stations in each of Yangon’s IZs by next month at their own expense, said U Myat Thin Aung, president of the Myanmar Industrial Association (MIA).
Colonel Khin Maung Soe, chairman of the YESB, said each station should have a capacity of 10 megavolt-amperes (MVA) to supply electricity to the industrial zones 24 hours a day. The project will be implemented in three major industrial zones – Hlaingthaya, Shwepyitha and Dagon Seikkan – in which a total of about 2000 factories are operating.
There are currently four power stations in Hlaingthaya IZ supplying a total of 55 MVA of electricity, which is “not sufficient for the more than 700 factories in the zone”, U Myat Thin Aung said.
The estimated cost to establish each station is about K 150 million, for which the government is not expected to supply any financial assistance. However, the YESB said it would provide technical assistance for the project.

Additional references
See above: 'Reliable electricity supply advantage to Thai shrimp farmers' (MT: 13/08/07)

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

NLM: 16/07/07 http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/07nlm/n070716.htm

Lt-Gen Khin Maung Than of the Ministry of Defence attended the opening of the new Pyay IZ in Nawade ward in Pyay. Chairman Aung Khin of the supervisory cte reported on the purpose of setting up the industrial zone, allotment of 303 plots for entrepreneurs, manufacturing of machine parts, auto parts and vehicles, and arrangements for the supply of water and power. The IZ is producing one-ton light trucks and the Pyay Jeep. At the 5-MVA power station of the zone, Khin Maung Than heard reports on supply of power to the industrial zone and control of power.
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GOVERNMENT WILL PRIORITIZE HYDROPOWER PROJECTS OVER GAS

Kyaw Thu, MT, 10/07/06. (Compiler’s note: Issue 324 of the Myanmar Times is not available on-line.)

The government intends to wean Myanmar off its reliance on gas for electricity generation and make hydropower the country’s sole source of electricity by 2030, an official from the Ministry of Electric Power No 1 told The Myanmar Times. Currently gas accounts for the bulk of Myanmar’s electricity production, providing about 48.5pc of supplies, the official said. “But now the government prefers hydropower.”
Hydropower currently accounts for about 38.5pc of electricity, steam turbines 12.5pc and diesel the remaining 0.5pc. But by 2030, the government hopes that 100pc of the country’s electricity will come from hydropower plants, which are the most cost-effective option, he said. The government plans to establish 24 hydro-electricity plants which will vary in output from 48 MW to 7,100 MW.
A percentage of the electricity from these projects is to be exported to neighbouring countries. The Hutgyi hydropower dam, which is being built with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) at the cost of US$1 billion, will export some 60pc of its electricity to Thailand. In April, Thai energy firm MDX Group and the government agreed on a $6 billion hydropower project on the Thanlwin River, from which Thailand will receive 85pc of the electricity. MDX said its dam, the biggest in Myanmar, would be ready in 2012, with electricity capacity to be upgraded to 7,000 MW later.
Progress on the Hutgyi dam slowed earlier this year, although an official from the EPM-1 denied this was the result of the death in May of an EGAT employee working on the feasibility study. In early May an EGAT official had said full-scale surveying was not expected to resume until 2007. “We feel we have enough information to complete the feasibility study, even though it is not really as complete as we would have wanted,” the EGAT official said. The Myanmar government official said the feasibility study had been finished. “In May, we finished the feasibility study for the whole project,” he said. “And that’s why we stopped the progress for a certain period.” The official predicted construction on the Hutgyi dam would start in Dec 2006 or Jan 2007, ahead of the Nov 2007 date in the initial agreement.
With all planned dams in operation by 2030, the EPM-1 estimates 23,300 MW of electricity will be available. It balances this with a projected annual domestic demand for 18,900 MW by 2030. In comparison, Thailand, with a population of about 64 million, in September 2004 had an installed power generation capacity of 25,970 megawatts, according to the Electric Power Trade Mission, an international organisation set up by the US Department of Commerce, the International Trade Administration and the Office of Global Trade Programs.
A ministry official told The Myanmar Times that as hydropower accounts for more electricity generation, the government will direct a greater proportion of Myanmar’s gas reserves to fertiliser production and other projects. A 1995 World Bank study showed the theoretical potential for hydropower in Myanmar to be 108,000 MW.
Additional references
See above: ‘National hydropower project schedule updated’ (MT: 21/07/08)

‘Completion of hydropower plants assigned highest priority’ (MT: 12/02/07)

See below: ‘Hydropower project nearing completion’ (MT: 28/06/04)

‘Generation facilities scheduled for commissioning in 2002-2004’ (MT 07/01/02)

‘More inputs needed to power a hydro future’ (MT: 04/06/01)

See also the section on hydropower in ‘Electricity potential of energy sources available in Myanmar’.

NLM, 17/05/09. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs07/NLM2009-05-17.pdf

Since 1988, a total of 13 hydropower plants supplying electricity to the power grids of the whole nation have been built, in addition to [smaller] regional hydro plants. Currently, there are 35 ongoing hydropower projects. These projects lie along the Ayeyawady, Chindwin, Sittoung and Thanlwin river basins which are blessed with lots of water resources. Experts have estimated that the State could generate more than 43,400 megawatts of electricity from all the water resources in Myanmar. With the opening of the 600-MW Shweli-1 hydropower station more than 1,400 megawatts of electricity can be generated from hydropower sources, and when the 35 ongoing projects are completed, they will generate over 32,900 megawatts. Present generating capacity is just over three percent of the potential capacity of the whole nation. This will reach about 79 percent when projects now underway are completed.

Myanmar Times Energy Supplement, August 2007. http://mmtimes.com/feature/energy/06.htm

Current hydropower electricity production stands at 745.68 MW, some 43pc of total electricity production. However, gov’t figures show an additional 2,034.2 MW are expected to come on-line at the end of 2009 when several hydropower plants should be finished. A total of 13 plants are included in this list and range from 2.2 to 790 MW in capacity. By the end of 2007 about 686 MW from four projects should become available for the national grid, while 247 MW will theoretically come on-line in 2008 but 2009 is expected to show a considerable increase – with more than 1,100 MW expected. In addition to the projects intended to be operational by the end of 2009, another 11 plants are slated for the future. These projects are expected to generate up to 15,725 MW and should be finished by 2015.

Myanmar Times, 13/11/06. [Issue 342 of the Myanmar Times is not available on-line.]

Completion of several hydropower projects in 2009 is expected to more than double production of electricity in Myanmar from 1,667 to 4,000 megawatts, an official from the EPM-1 said last week. Among the hydropower projects expected to be finished in 2009 are those at Yeywa in Mandalay Division and Shweli in Shan State. The official also said the Dept of Hydroelectric Power (DHP) is conducting a feasibility study to build a hydropower station about 16 km (10 miles) upstream from the village of Ann in Rakhine State. “The department is building camps and roads to facilitate the project,” the official said, adding that the station will include three turbines capable of producing a total of 15 MW of power. Hydropower currently supplies 38.5pc of Myanmar’s electricity, with gas turbines producing another 48.44pc, coal-fired steam turbines 12.5pc and diesel engines 0.5pc.

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INTEREST GROWING IN RICE-HUSK GENERATION

Kyaw Thu and Khin Hnin Phyu, Myanmar Times, 10/07/06.

http://www.aseanenergy.info/News/34000938.htm
As an environmentally-friendly, renewable energy source, local experts say rice husks could be used to generate electricity in Myanmar and reduce dependence on expensive oil imports. Rice-husk power plants process husks by heating them to create a gas that is then burned and converted into electricity. Experts say the technology could be particularly useful for developing rural areas. It is also an idea that neighbouring countries are putting into practice, with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other investors.
On May 31, a United Arab Emirates-based fund, Al Tayyer Energy, announced it would provide US$120 million for Thailand to build rice husk power plants in the country’s more remote north. The move was designed to provide Thailand with alternative energy sources in the face of soaring global oil prices and was expected to save the country some 800 million baht ($21 million) a year from the six million tonnes of rice husks it produces annually, Al Tayyer Energy said.
On June 22, the ADB announced it would release about $1 billion dollars each year for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. U Soe Myint, the vice president of the Renewable Energy Association Myanmar, a local non-governmental organisation, said rice husk projects here could lead to more widespread availability of electricity in villages and also benefit cottage industries and private industrial firms.
Local rice mill owners said there were plenty of rice husks to get the idea off the ground. “We should use these plants in the countryside where rice husks are abundant,” said one mill owner, noting that Mon, Rakhine, Ayeyarwaddy, Yangon and Bago states and divisions were the most suitable areas to develop rice husk plants as they were the country’s biggest rice producers. As an agriculturally-based country of which rice was the primary crop, he said the husks were cheap and readily available in Myanmar.
According to the Ag & Irrig Ministry, the 1,250 million baskets of rice Myanmar produces each year results in some 230 million baskets (about 4.8 million tonnes) of rice husks. Founder of the Myanmar Inventors’ Cooperative Society U Soe Tint Aung, who has been designing rice-husk energy systems since 1985, said public interest in the technology had increased significantly in recent years due to the comparatively low cost of energy production. It was about 10 times cheaper than using diesel, he said. Such plants were being set up on the town-level with firms in industrial zones such as ice as saw mills being the main customers, he said.
Currently there are only a handful of firms designing and producing rice-husk energy plants, although U Soe Tint Aung said rising demand was leading to more companies getting involved in plant production. U Than Nyunt, the managing director of Ar Mahn Tech, a company that sells dual-fuel generators, said that although it was possible to build rice-husk energy plants in Myanmar, more advanced technology was needed to optimise production. The start-up costs and technology needed restricted what local companies could do, he said. One of the main technical hurdles for such alternative energy designers currently is the amount of tar rice-husk plants generate as a by-product, U Than Nyunt said. “This is the barrier for us. If we could eliminate the tar, it would be okay.”
Graham James Dwyer, External Relation Specialist for the ADB, also noted that the bank had not provided Myanmar with a loan for 20 years. Locally-designed rice-husk plants currently produce up to 300 kilowatts. However, a rice miller told The Myanmar Times there was a plan to produce a plant generating as much as 1,500 megawatts in Dedaye, Ayeyarwaddy Division. “We are conducting a feasibility study for building the power plant,” he said. Last month, a rice-husk power plant designed by the Myanmar Inventor’s Cooperative Society was awarded third place in the ASEAN-organised Fifth Renewable Energy Project Competition in Brunei.
Website information:

http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/Mekong/Proceedings/SEF2-Annex6.4-Myanmar-Presentation.pdf

Information presented by the Energy Planning Dept of the Myanmar Ministry of Energy at the Second subregional energy forum in Ho Chi Minh city on 22/11/08 indicates that the installed electrification capacity of renewable energy sources at the end of 2008 was as follows: Solar power: 0.1157 MW, Wind power: 0.5194 MW, Mini hydro power: 8.3530 MW, Bio-mass power: 18.1942 MW; Biogas power 1.5993 MW.

Additional references
See above: ‘Local electricity plant powers village metal workshops in Thabyu’ (NLM: 27/03/11)

`Rice husks used to power urban wards` (Myanmar Times: 23/08/10)

‘Electricity flowing from monk-driven projects in Mon state’ (IMNA, 05/02/09)

‘Natchaung model village well supplied with electric power’ (NLM: 15/09/08)

‘Biogas production and engine conversion to biogas’ (JITE: 02/08)

'Plans for 7-million-dollar rice-husk power plant edge forward' (MT: 27/08/07)

'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)

See below '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)

‘Village electrification committees’ (Renewable Energies in Rural Areas: 09/03)
Compiler’s Note: There are numerous references in Myanmar publications to paddy husk generators installed in farms and villages throughout the country. The entries below have been selected on the basis of the details they provide about the political and financial arrangements for installation of the gasifier-generator systems and technical data about the systems.
NLM, 03/12/11. Edited and condensed. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs12/NLM2011-12-03.pdf

\Chief Minister of Ayeyawady Region Thein Aung attended the launching of the power supply in Shan Village in Kangyidaunt township. In Ayeyawady Region, a total of 29 villages now have access to electricity on a self-reliant basis. About 3800 villages of about 11,000 villages in the region have been supplied electricity. Plans are underway to supply electricity to the remaining villages. In Shan Village, which is located along the Pathein-Ngaputaw Road, 482 of the 595 households are now electrified.

Juliet Shwe Gaung, Myanmar Times, 19/09/11. http://mmtimes.com/2011/business/593/biz59304.html

Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) is providing funding and technical advice to help the residents of Yone Daung village in Kyaiklat township in the Ayeyarwady delta to generate its own electricity using rice husks. U Thoung Win, director and technical consultant for UMEHL said the company will provide a K15.3 million (about US$20,675) interest-free loan to fund the project. The loan is to repaid in monthly instalments over 12 months. U Sein Myint, leader of Yone Daunt village tract, said the gasifier would be able generate about 50 kilovolt amperes (KVA) of electricity. “We already have two 20KVA generators that burn rice husks and cover about 400 of the 560 households in the tract. We hope the new gasifier will be able to cover all households,” U Sein Myint said. “The gasifiers currently in use are partly filled with tar and are not working efficiently,” said U Thoung Win, who is providing technical support to the project. Villagers are charged K700 for each unit – or kilowatt hour – of electricity. “A packet of candles costs about K200, so people prefer to pay more to use electricity instead,” said U Sein Myint, adding that electricity is usually available from 6pm to 10pm. Each 20KVA generator and gasifier uses about seven baskets of rice husks an hour, he said. The newly installed 50KVA gasifier would improve the village’s electricity supply and save on diesel costs, he added.

Myo Aung, NLM, 15/06/11. Excerpt. Edited. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-06-15.pdf

Wheat farming in Taungni Village of Mogaung township in Kachin State has proved successful. Local farmers are running trial plots of wheat with technical support and hybrid species of wheat from the township MAS. Monsoon paddy, groundnut, soya bean, sunflower and watermelon are also grown in the area. Taungni Village has 515 houses and a self-reliant library. Villagers have undertaken a spring-supplied water supply project. The village enjoys sufficient electric power from a paddy-husk-fired power plant which they contributed to on a self-help basis.

NLM, 28/08/10. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs09/NLM2010-08-28.pdf

At the integrated, eight-acre farm of U Than Ko and Daw Than Than Aye in Lekaing village in Pwintbyu township paddy husk is being used to generate electricity. Integrated farming is based on the concept of using animal droppings and waste left over after harvesting crops to improve life on the farm and to regenerate the soil. [The article describes the farm, the animals that are being raised there, the crops that are produced and the increased income the family is receiving from their farm. It includes photos.

Several articles and news items about integrated farming have appeared in NLM over the last year. This is the first that mentions paddy husk generation. No further details are provided.]
NLM, 23/01/09. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2009-01-23.pdf

Sports Minister Aye Myint attends the opening of paddy husk-fired generator in the village of Alinthit in ChaungU township, Sagaing division. The 50 KVA-generator can supply power to 230 houses and over 20 video houses and lamp-posts. It also supports the village water supply. It cost K 8.5 million in total.

NLM, 23/12/08. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2008-12-23.pdf

Lt-Gen Tha Aye of the MoD looks into the supply of electricity by means of 120-kilowatt husk-powered generator at the township Electrical Engineer's Office at Kyunsu on Kadan Island in Taninthayi division. [A photo of the generator is included in the print edition of NLM.]

NLM, 02/11/08. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs5/NLM2008-11-02.pdf

The Yangon division commander inspects the supply of power on Coco Island. It is provided by a 150-KVA generator and a 75 KVA generator as well as "a palm-leaves-fired power generator”.

NLM, 27/11/06. http://burmalibrary.org/docs2/NLM2006-11-27.pdf

Lt-Gen Kyaw Win of the MoD attends the opening of a paddy husk-fired power station in Yannlon village in Wattaung village-tract, Kengtung township on 24/11/06. Construction of [installation of equipment at?] the station started on 11/11/06. A total of 51 households in four villages including Yannlon have been supplied with electricity. It cost K 16.2 million. [A photo of the interior of the station showing the generating equipment is included in the print edition of NLM. Yannlon village (Yanglaw: 21° 21' N, 99° 36' E) appears to be the location of a demonstration project of the Myanmar Agriculture Service.]

http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/05nlm/n050919.htm
NLM, 25/02/06. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/06nlm/n060225.htm

A paddy husk-fired power station is launched in Magyibok village in Myaung township. The 100-hp-capacity power station can generate 400 kW.

South Asian Energy Awards, 2006. http://www.dgs.de/fileadmin/files/REEPRO/International_projects/Biomass_Rural_Electrification_with_rice_husk_gasifier_in_Myanmar.pdf

This two-page report, titled ‘Biomass - Rural Electrification with rice husk gasifier in Myanmar’, describes a rice-husk generating station that was set up by the Myanmar Inventor Coop Society in Lin Tha village in Thandwe township, Rakhine state. There is a brief explanation of how the system works, accompanied by a diagram and a photo of the operating system. A 60HP internal combusion engine fueled by gas produced by rice husks is used to drive the generator which has an output of 30KW. Fuel consumption is estimated at 1.6 tons per kWh with total consumption per year[?] of 87 tons. US$ 15,333 was spent in setting up the plant and distribution system including $2500 for construction costs, $3750 for the gasifier unit, $1250 for the gas engine, $1250 for the generator, $4583 for the electricity main and distribution system and $2000 for installation and overhead costs. The plant operates a rice mill for 12 hours a day and lighting to the village for an additional 5 hours. The system is privately owned (perhaps by the rice mill operator). The report does not state how many homes in the village are served. The project won an ASEAN energy award in 2006.

Myanmar Times, 13/09/04. [not available on-line]

The first power plant in Bago division to generate electricity from rice husks was officially opened in Bine-dar village, Nyaunglaypin township, on August 9. The plant is capable of producing 50 kilowatts of energy for 426 households. It was established by the village electrification committee with the support of the township’s USDA. Before the plant was set up, some villagers relied on small and expensive diesel generators for electricity. Because of the cost, many households had no electricity. The plant cost K10.5 million to build, about K 6 million of which was paid with a loan from the Co-operative Bank. The village electrification committee raised the balance of the funds.

NLM, 20/02/03. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/03nlm/n030220.htm

Minister for Cooperatives Tin Ngwe attends the opening of the paddy husk-fired power plant of Hleseik Village General Enterprises Cooperative Society held at the basic education high school in Hleseik in Kyaunggon township on 16 February. Deputy Director Thein Shwe of Ayeyawady Division Cooperative Dept and Chairman Hla Thwin of Pathein DPDC formally open the plant.

NLM, 16/11/02. http://www.myanmargeneva.org/02nlm/n021116.htm

A paddy husk-burning power plant was opened in Taungni Village in Taunggyi township on 11/11/02. The plant was built on a self-reliant basis at a cost of K 5.876 million and can generate 50 KVA.

NLM, 27/10/02. http://www.burmalibrary.org/NLM/archives/2002-10/msg00032.html

Lt-Gen Maung Bo and party visit Kyweku Village in Myeik township where they are briefed on the construction of a paddy husk-powered electric power station. The station and a 'Ngwelwe' paddy thresher innovated by youths of Ingamaw village are being test run. The furnace installed at the power station is of an RH 20/22 type, and the engine is a Hino EF 750 V8 with 200 HP. It burns 30 baskets of paddy husks an hour and can supply power to 2,400 four-foot fluorescent lamps. It will supply power to Kyweku Village and a 50-ton rice mill near the station. A report in NLM: 18/11/02 describes the opening of the 120-kilowatt power station on Novmber 9. It is said to have cost K 92.27 [K 9.27?] million. [www.myanmar.gov.mm/NLM-2002/enlm/Nov16_region6.html]

NLM, 04/05/01. www.myanmargeneva.org/01nlm/n010504.htm

A power plant run on paddy husk gas was opened in Yonthalin village-tract, Hinthada township, on 1 May. The 130-KVA power plant was built by Ayeyar Swanar Engine Production Enterprise. It will electrify 1,010 houses in Yonthalin Village.

For more on the Yonthalin community project see the volume 'Interviews/Field Surveys in Villages for Rural Electrification: Feb 2001-Nov 2002', in the series: 'Study on Introduction of Renewable Energies in Rural Areas in Myanmar:

http://lvzopac.jica.go.jp/external/library?func=function.opacsch.mmdsp&view=view.opacsch.mmindex&shoshisbt=1&shoshino=0000159779&volno=0000000000&filename=11734175_03.pdf&seqno=3

A memo on pp 94-95 describes a visit to the village on 12 June 2001 by a JICA field team. It reports that the engine at the Yonthalin is a 140-HP, 135 kVA Hino 12-cylinder [converted] diesel type and that the furnace is an RH-14 type and the starter a small DG of 4.4 kW. 420 of the 1,100 households in the village are hooked up, as well as 40 street lights. Households are allowed to use 3.2 foot lights, TV, radio and karaoke, but not rice cookers. The system provides electricity for 5 hours a day during the evening from 18:00 to 23:00. 12 baskets of husks (each weighing 2.3 kg) are needed to operate the system for one hour. The village has approximately 1,200 acres [500 h] of paddy fields of which 250 acres are cultivated by the villagers. The rest is owned by 'non-villagers' [Aye-ya shwe-wah?]. There are 6 privately owned rice mills in the village. The memo does not say whether these are being operated by the gasifier system separately from the community electrification scheme. Total costs for construction of the plants amounted to K 1.5 million for the engine, and K 2.5 million for the distribution lines. Erection of the lines was provided free of charge by MEPE. Installment charges of 20,000 - 40,000 per household are being collected from the villagers.

The Study on Introduction of Renewable Energies in Rural Areas in Myanmar: Final Report: Volume 1: Summary, pp 37-38. http://lvzopac.jica.go.jp/external/library?func=function.opacsch.mmdsp&view=view.opacsch.mmindex&shoshisbt=1&shoshino=0000159772&volno=0000000000&filename=11734100_01.pdf&seqno=1

and also

Interviews/Field Surveys in Villages for Rural Electrification: Feb 2001-Nov 2002, pp 97-101. http://lvzopac.jica.go.jp/external/library?func=function.opacsch.mmdsp&view=view.opacsch.mmindex&shoshisbt=1&shoshino=0000159779&volno=0000000000&filename=11734175_03.pdf&seqno=3

Samalauk village has been selected as a model village for electrification using a rice-husk-gas-fueled engine and generator. It is located in Nyaungdon township approximately 50 km west of Yangon along the Yangon-Pathein Highway. The main aim of the model village program will be to monitor the implementation of a rural electrication scheme that uses a rice-husk generator. The generator is is to be operated and maintained under the management of a local electrification committee (VEC) on a self-help basis. The monitoring arrangement will show how a rice-husk-gas generating system could best be adapted for use in electrifying paddy-cultivating villages in Myanmar. Samalauk already has four battery charging stations, each capable of charging about 20 batteries at a time. The rice-husk generator program would include 200 of the village's 800 households. Assuming three 20 W lights per household and one 60 W TV per four households (or one 15 W radio per household), average household demand would be 75 W and the total lighting demand would be about 13 kW. The households selected for the program would be in the central part of the village within a thousand metres of the engine-generator. Electricity generated by the plant would be supplied to the houses by 230 V distribution lines for five hours a day from 18:00 to 23:00. The capital cost of the husk gas engine generator system and distribution lines is estimated at about US$ 130 per household. The operation and maintenance cost is estimated to be $ 6 per household per annum. Power consumption per household would be: 75 W x 0.75 (factor of concurrent use) x 5 hour/day x 30 days/month = 8.4 kWh/month The monthly tariff would be in the order of K 600 per household per month. The unit price would be about K 71 kWh ($ 0.11/kWh) (i.e. much higher than the current tariff of MEPE at K 2.5 kWh). A BCS charges K 100 for a 12 V battery and K 50 for an 8 V battery. A village household that uses a battery spends K 1,500-2,000 for lighting per month. A family with two 8 W fluorescent lights spends K 1,000 per month on lighting. Houses in the outlying areas of Samalauk could be electrified by a line-fed BCS system and smaller satellite villages scattered further afield by a solar powered battery charging system. [Compiler's Note: The notes from the Field Survey provide additional useful background information about Samalauk and the proposal for the electrification system there. ]

“3. Rice Husk Gas Engine Generator”, pp 16 – 25. Part of an unnumbered volume entitled, Visual Guide for Planning Village RE Schemes, of the series, The Study on Introduction of Renewable Energies in Rural Areas in Myanmar (Sept 2003).

http://lvzopac.jica.go.jp/external/library?func=function.opacsch.mmdsp&view=view.opacsch.mmindex&shoshisbt=1&shoshino=0000159767&volno=0000000000&filename=11734050_02.pdf&seqno=2

This is background material designed for a non-technical manual for field workers to use in presenting basic information about rice-husk generation at the village level. A very useful diagram on p20, accompanied by pictures, shows the various stages of the gasification and generation system including gasifier, drains, purification towers, filters, engine, and generator. According to the information provided, a typical village gasifier would require 50 baskets of husks per day to provide a five-hour supply of electric power to 250 homes, assuming a demand of 75 watts per household. 50 baskets of husks could also produce sufficient gas to fuel an engine that would power a mill producing 2.5 tons of milled rice per day. The energy content of 50 baskets of rice husks would be equivalent to approximately 10 gals of diesel oil.

Myanmar Times, 15/01/01. http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/myanmartimes/no46/b2.htm [not available on-line]

Myanmar has been a rice-producing country for centuries, and yet the productive potential of the paddy husk – other than for use as a coolant for ice blocks and as cheap fuel for open-fire cooking – has not been utilised. Last summer Ayeyar Shwe Wah, an agri-business company, cultivated 1,200 acres of land at Payarni village in Thabaung township, Ayeyarwady Division for growing paddy. What was noteworthy about the venture was that the company used paddy-husk-fuelled engines to pump in 600,000 gallons of water onto the site daily. Had it used diesel oil, the company would have faced a daily cost of K 30,800. But with the price of a bushel of paddy husks at just K 5, Ayeyar Shwe Wah’s daily cost was just K 880. If diesel pumps had been used throughout the summer cultivating period the total cost would have been K 2,772,000. But using paddy husk fuelled engine pumps cost only K 79,200. The inventor of the paddy husk fuelled system is U Soe Tint Aung, the president of Myanmar Inventors Cooperative Ltd. Though designed as a paddy-husk gas-fuelled engine, his machine can also run on gas produced by saw dust or organic waste. Besides pumping water, it can generate enough power to run a rice mill, saw mill or ice factory. One of the engines is supplying the electricity needs of the Nyaung-gan village in Htilin township, Magwe District.

See also the following report of the same field test from the January 2001 edition of The Irrawaddy.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=724

The Myanmar Inventors Cooperative Ltd has produced a workable version of a paddy-husk fueled engine that could help beat the high costs of imported diesel fuel. Ayeyar Shwe Wah, an agribusiness company, used the prototype engine last summer to pump 600,000 gallons of water daily to cultivate 1,200 acres of land at a cost $2.25 per day, or less than 3% of the $78 required using imported diesel. The high cost of diesel has long hampered cash-strapped Burma’s efforts to expand its agricultural output.

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