Red tape delays hydropower plant MoU with Myanmar

FE Team | Published: December 08, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Power Division says a move to build hydropower plant in neighbouring Myanmar and bring in electricity through a cross-border transmission line is stuck up due to lack of further initiatives.
Sources at the Power Division said the two countries agreed in July last to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a hydropower plant on the Lemro river under joint venture.
They said it will require a prefeasibility study before taking up such a project, and in pursuance of the initiative the Power Division had sought foreign ministry approval on sending a technical committee to Yangon for the study.
But the Power Division has not received any response from the foreign ministry to its letter, sent nearly two months ago, seeking clearance on such visit, the sources said.
Talking to the FE Friday, power secretary Fouzul Kabir Khan said: "We sent a letter in October last to the foreign ministry seeking clearance for sending a technical committee to Myanmar, but the ministry is yet to make any response."
He said the committee was due to visit Myanmar for a pre-feasibility study in November last. A MoU was scheduled to be signed at that time for carrying out a joint feasibility study to build a hydropower plant on the Lemro river in Rakhaine state, about 100 kilometers from Bangladesh border.
He said there is a potential for generating about 500 megawatt (MW) to 600 MW electricity from the plant.
Fouzul said the hydropower plant project could be either a government-to-government joint-venture project or a private-public joint venture between the two countries.
An international consultant might be appointed to conduct the feasibility study. Experts from both the countries might also be included in the study team, sources said.
Earlier, a three-member team, led by the power secretary, visited Myanmar on July 10-13 to discuss the power project.
According to officials, the plant will supply 30 per cent of the total generated power to the domestic consumers of Myanmar and the remaining 70 per cent to Bangladesh through a cross-border transmission line.
More than 37 per cent of over 1200-megawatt (MW) power in Myanmar is generated from water sources. Besides, Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE) under the Ministry of Electric Power has identified more than 200 potential hydropower sites throughout the country, with the probable installed capacity of 38,000MW.
Thailand has already invested in Myanmar for generating hydro-electricity as there are a lot of water resources in this South-East Asian nation.
Other countries like China and India are now working in Myanmar for setting up hydropower plants in that country.