Yangon aims to gain power by cutting losses

 

 Soe Moe made the comment in an interview on the sidelines of the Myanmar Green Energy Summit 2014. He told Myanmar Eleven that transmission losses will fall from their current 18.62 per cent to 11 per cent by 2019, accelerating a downward trend that began in 2008 when nearly one-quarter, 23.75 per cent, of all power supplied to the city was lost during transmission.

 “The distribution loss was about 23.75 per cent [in 2008], which is very high compared to other countries in the region,” said Soe Moe. Power losses during transmission have fallen slightly each year since then: to 22.65, 22.17, 19.89, 19.25 and 18.65 per cent from 2009 till last year.

 Soe Moe estimated the loss rate to fall to 17 per cent this year, 15.5 per cent next year, 14 per cent in 2017 and 12.5 per cent in 2018, before hitting the 2019 target of 11 per cent. 

 He described the power distribution system in Yangon as “challenging” because it relies on “ageing transmission and distribution facilities”.

 The main reason power is lost during transmission is that it is distributed using antiquated materials and instruments. The entire system needs to be upgraded with what Soe Moe described as “a wide range of investments”.

 For example, broken or old kilowatt-hour (kWh) meters are being replaced with electromagnetic, digital meters, and a multi-transformer system is also being used to reduce losses through the 400V distribution line.

The electricity supply board is also constructing new sub-stations and transmission lines, upgrading old and out-of-date sub-stations and transmission lines, and upgrading 33 kV distribution voltages to 66 kV, and 6.6 kV to 11 kV. New power cables have been put in place that helps reduce losses from lines that touch trees. These new power cables use less space, reduce hazards for people, and are less prone to damage from trees, birds, animals, and weather. 

The board has also installed a time sequential sectionaliser that allows it to better detect faults and interruptions, which will improve power reliability and efficiency. It received support from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to do this.

Soe Moe said foreign investors were welcome to participate in the upgrading of power distribution. Expansion of sub-stations and distribution lines is the most urgent need, he said. The electricity board is doing this with loans from the Asian Development Bank, JICA, Norway’s Jacobsen Elektro, and NEDA, Thailand’s Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency. So far, there are 38 JICA-funded projects, 13 funded by Jacobsen Elektro, six by NEDA and four by the ADB.

Talks with the lenders began last year with the ADB, Soe Moe said, adding that the board racing to sign agreements. “The sooner we sign the agreements, the better we can distribute power to the public,” he said.

The board itself will be transformed next year with assistance from the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation.  Soe Moe said it will be corporatised.

Talks with IFC are still at the legal, technical, and financial stages, he said. “We have only a little experience in corporatisation and are now studying how we should operate when we are corporatised,” he added.

The IFC signed an agreement on February 26 with the Ministry of Electric Power to help improve power supply in Yangon. It will provide technical support and assistance to transform the Yangon City Electricity Supply Board into a standalone, regulated electricity supplier within three years. The IFC may itself take an equity stake in the corporation, according to a February 28 statement from the IFC.  

Half of the World Bank’s US$2 billion loans and grants committed to Myanmar so far are for expanding and upgrading electricity supply – a necessity for Myanmar’s economic and social development.