GE delivers electric power system roadmap for Myanmar

GE delivered an implementation roadmap for Myanmar’s electric power system, drawing from key research findings from the company’s electricity planning studies in the country. The preliminary findings were presented  at the ”2nd Moving Forward to Power Up Myanmar” seminars for Ministry of Electric and Power (MOEP) and Yangon Electricity Supply Board (YESB) engineers. Led by GE Energy Consulting and supported by GE Myanmar, the seminars were held in Nay Pyi Taw from 4 to 6 June and in Yangon from 9 to 11 June with a focus on Power Systems Engineering and Distribution Systems Planning and Analysis. Training participants learned of industry best practices for power systems that may be implemented in Myanmar.

This round of seminars follows the successful inaugural “Moving Forward to Power Up Myanmar” seminar held in Yangon in September 2013 along with a site visit at Tharkayta power plant which provided engineers and planners from MOEP with an economic and technical understanding of how to run the power plants more efficiently.

"GE is delighted to once again have the opportunity to work with MOEP and YESB engineering teams, sharing our expertise with them through the second series of the “Moving Forward to Power Up Myanmar” seminars. These seminars represent our long-term and ongoing commitment to build capacity, helping the government and our local partners during this period of infrastructure development in the country", said Stuart Dean, CEO General Electric, ASEAN.

"Additionally, we believe that GE’s decades of global experience have been brought to bear with these comprehensive research findings presented by GE Energy Consulting during the seminars with MOEP, which we hope will be a key element in the development of the country’s energy infrastructure.” he added.

“We appreciate GE sharing the preliminary findings, we will take into consideration these findings into our current development plan to power up Myanmar", said His Excellency U Maw Thar Htwe, Union Deputy Minister of Hydro Power.

As part of the US$7 million capacity building commitment to Myanmar and its efforts to support MOEP, YESB and other industry stakeholders, GE Energy Consulting is currently performing this electricity planning study which is expected to be completed by 3rd Quarter 2014. The purpose of this study is to help formulate a practical implementation roadmap to develop the Myanmar electric power system and outline how it can evolve into a sustainable driver for economic growth.

The study is focused on themes which include:

• Education and Training
• Generation and Transmission Planning
• Distribution system Planning and Engineering
• Electricity Structure, Regulation and Policy
• Technologies for Rural Electrification

Several future scenarios from 2013 through 2020 were studied. Generation and transmission capacity additions provide increased electricity supplies and reliability under those scenarios. For both planned additions and fuel constrained cases, Myanmar’s technology mix changes in this timeframe to include more gas fired combined cycle, simple cycle and gas engine technology that supplement seasonal hydro energy. Additionally, the electricity structure becomes more liberalized, incorporating recommendations made by development groups on regulation and electricity law.

The study also found that standardized grid codes at the transmission and distribution levels can be adopted to reduce technical and non-technical losses, and facilitate the interconnection of both large centralized power plants as well as smaller-scale distributed power plants. One of the recommendations from the study is that Myanmar can adopt best practices from neighbouring countries, learning from their successes and challenges. This includes installing technologies for rural electrification that include distributed solar and biomass via gasification in a micro-grid to bring power to remote communities and support industrial zones.

GE Projects in the Region

GE offers a wide range of power solutions, including large gas turbines for generating electricity for large cities to smaller turbines for remote area. For example, in November 2012, GE’s aeroderivative gas turbine technology and technical advisory services were selected for a natural gas-fired power plant facility in Alhone Township, Yangon City. The plant, which produces about 100 megawatts of electricity, is owned and operated by Singapore-based independent power producer TOYO Thai Power Corp. which sells the power to Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power.

In Indonesia, GE recently signed three contracts for projects to support the need for distributed power in the country. The projects feature GE's gas engine technology, including the country’s first integrated biomass-to-power plant for on-grid applications using bamboo and woody biomass feedstock. In addition, GE has almost completed supplying Navigat Energy Pte Ltd. with 70 natural-gas fuelled engines for Navigat-owned independent power plant (IPP) projects in Indonesia and another 30 engines for palm oil biogas power projects in Thailand. The 100 natural gas and ecomagination qualified biogas engines will be installed at various sites in Indonesia and Thailand and produce a total of 330 megawatts (MW) of reliable on-site power to support the economics growth of remote areas in Indonesia and Thailand.

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