Hydropower development is conducive to Myanmar’s economic development

Myanmar is rich in hydropower resources, totaling more than 100 million kilowatts, and its current development and utilization rate is 2.45%. Compared with the current state of economic development, compared with the national long-term development plan, the development rate is significantly lower. In order to meet the needs of economic development, Myanmar has formulated a mid-to-long-term development plan for electricity according to the future economic development plan and the specific conditions of the country, and determined to give priority to the development of hydropower.

At present, Myanmar's national technology and economic level still do not have the ability to independently develop large-scale hydropower projects. In the short term, it has not completely absorbed the power generated by large hydropower plants. After careful study, Myanmar has chosen neighboring countries that have both economic and technological strengths and can absorb the huge electricity produced, such as India, China, and Thailand, to jointly develop hydropower resources, so that the impetuous river provides the economic development of Myanmar. Inexhaustible energy and foreign exchange necessary to promote economic development.

In order to ensure the power demand for economic development, according to the forecast of future economic development in Myanmar, in the MOA signed with the project company, it is clear that after the power station generates electricity, during the franchise period, Myanmar will receive a certain percentage of free electricity, if these Can not be fully absorbed, the surplus will be sold together with other electricity to foreign countries in order to create foreign exchange earnings; If free electricity can not meet domestic demand, Myanmar will have priority to purchase a certain percentage of the remaining power. After the franchise period, ownership of the power station and all electricity produced will be attributed to Myanmar.

Myanmar's choice of hydropower development as a priority development project not only can provide a large amount of electricity and foreign exchange, but it can also speed up regional infrastructure construction and stimulate local economic development. On the one hand, in order to build large-scale hydropower stations, a large number of high-grade highways, hydrological station networks, seismic stations, and communication networks need to be built; on the other hand, the construction of power stations can also provide a lot of job opportunities, stimulating living supplies and some production materials. And other industries.

The Irrawaddy River Basin has an area of ​​410,000 square kilometers, which accounts for about 60% of Myanmar's total land area. It is the cradle of Burmese civilization and the mother river. Historically, the capitals of various dynasties such as Bagan, Despicable, and Mandalay were basically It is distributed along this mother river. The Irrawaddy River starts from the confluence of the Enmeikai River and the Maili Kaijiang River and is 2,714 kilometers in length. If it is counted from the source of the east source, Ji Taiqu in Tibet, China, it has a total length of 3,244 kilometers and is the 17th-largest river in the world. Haikou has an average annual flow of 15,400 cubic meters per second and the flow rate is the 16th largest river in the world. The Irrawaddy River is a hydroelectric mine in Myanmar. In the mainstream of watersheds with less than 50,000 square kilometers in Myitkyina and above, the planned installed capacity has reached 20 million kilowatts. If it is counted as a tributary, it is expected to exceed 25 million kilowatts, accounting for 1/1 of the economically exploitable hydropower installed capacity in the country. Above 4 years, after all development, about 130 billion kWh of green power will be provided each year.

Although the hydropower resources of the Irrawaddy are abundant, they have not been fully exploited. A small number of small and medium-sized power stations have been built on the tributaries. Compared with other major rivers in the world, their level of hydropower development is very low. On the one hand, a large amount of water energy is not utilized. On the other hand, Since there are no large-scale reservoirs to cut down peaks and fill valleys, floods are prone to occur during the flood season. In the dry season, there is not enough water to meet production and living needs. The efficiency of water resources has not been fully utilized and utilized.

In order to make good use of the hydropower resources upstream of the Irrawaddy, Myanmar has invited companies from Japan, China and other countries to plan and study the comprehensive development of the river basin, and finally chose the plan proposed by the CPI.

In addition to the advantages of engineering technology, CPI's development program also has the following advantages: First, it makes full use of hydropower resources. In these planning programs, CPI's installed capacity and power generation capacity are the largest; Increased the flood control capacity of Myitkyina, an important city in northern Myanmar. Through the adjustment of Myitsone Reservoir, Myitkyina’s flood control capacity will be increased to once in 20 years. Third, a certain amount of capacity adjustment capacity will be available, and the total adjustment capacity of seven steps will be adjusted. 13.7 billion cubic meters, although accounting for only 8.27% of the average annual runoff at the Myitsone dam site, is 2.7% of the average annual runoff from the estuary, much lower than some major rivers in the world, such as the Parana River in South America and North America. The proportion of rivers in the Tennessee River, the Zambia River in Africa, and so on, but through comprehensive dispatch, will continue to play a huge role in reducing flood peaks and increasing dry season flows.