Bangkok, Thailand — Myanmar’s military government appears to be considering reviving a massive Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam project, work on which was suspended more than a decade ago after protests over its potential impact on the environment.
A notice from the Ministry of Information, published online in the latest issue of the government bulletin on Tuesday, announced a new leadership team for the Myitsone hydropower project, which was suspended in 2011 by former Myanmar president Thein Sein, backed by the military.
The $3.6 billion project in northern Kachin state, along the country’s Irrawaddy River, was supposed to export about 90% of the electricity it generated to China, Myanmar’s northern neighbor.
China had seen the dam as an important part of a national strategy to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and meet its goals of reducing pollution. He pushed hard for its construction to resume, even after the suspension.
Environmental activists have said the dam would displace countless villagers and disrupt the ecology of the Irrawaddy River, one of the country’s most vital national resources.
Other opponents questioned the deal under which China would take 90% of the dam’s power, while nearly 70% of Myanmar at the time had no access to electricity, according to the World Bank.
Myanmar is currently suffering from prolonged power outages that have become a major burden since the military took power in February 2021, overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Power outages in Yangon, the country’s largest city, now typically last eight hours a day.
The state-owned Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation reported earlier this month that power supply has declined due to inadequate power generation, a sudden spike in power consumption during a recent brutal heat wave and the destruction of electrical facilities by forces fighting the country’s military government. .
Current energy production can only meet 50% of demand, he said.
He said a board for the Myitsone hydroelectric project was formed with 11 members from different departments. Aye Kyaw, deputy minister of the Ministry of Electricity, was appointed leader of the board.
The notice, dated April 24, said the group would conduct research, consider technical solutions and handle public relations for the project in collaboration with the leadership team of Chinese company SPIC Yunnan International Power Investment.
Any revival of the project will have to confront the war being waged in much of Myanmar by pro-democracy guerrillas and their allied ethnic armed groups against the military government installed after the overthrow of Suu Kyi.
Fighting has broken out in townships near the Kachin capital, Myitkyina, in recent months as troops from the powerful armed forces of the Kachin ethnic minority have reportedly captured dozens of military bases in the area.
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