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China signs new Burma power deals |
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Burma News Headlines
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Burma and China have signed a deal for a 2,400-megawatt hydropower project on the Thanlwin River in Shan State in northeastern Burma, state-run media reported Saturday.
Representatives of the two sides signed the agreement at the country's new capital Naypyitaw on Thursday, according to a report in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper. The Upper Thanlwin Hydel Power Project will be jointly implemented by Burma's state-run Hydropower Implementation Department, China's Farsighted Investment Group Co, and Gold Water Resources Ltd, at an undisclosed location in Shan State, according to the paper.
No other details were reported.
In January, Burma signed three similar agreements with China, allowing Chinese companies to build hydropower plants in Shan and Kachin states. The two states border China's Yunnan Province.
It is not clear whether the power generated by the dams would be used to supply Burma's heavily inefficient electric power system or neighbouring China.
Military-ruled Burma faces constant power shortages as consumption has increased 3.7 times while the installed power capacity has increased only 2.5 times over the past two decades, according to official figures.
The country has an installed capacity of 1,701 MW but the plants actually produce around 1,000 MW most of the year due to unstable water levels at dams.
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