Myanmar’s new government is set to mushroom coal’s share of its energy mix, despite manifesto pledges to boost clean energy and cut air pollution.
The National League of Democracy (NLD) took power last Wednesday, formally ending nearly five decades of oppressive military junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party will stick to existing targets to increase coal-fired power from 2% to 30% within 15 years, as it expands energy access in a country with one of the world’s lowest electrification rates.
Chinese media reported today that the country’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has ordered 13 provincial governments to suspend approvals of new coal-fired power plant projects until the end of 2017.
Another group of 15 provinces has been ordered to delay new construction of projects that have already been approved. According to Greenpeace East Asia’s initial assessment of the implications of the rules, up to 250 coal-fired power plant units with a total of 170 gigawatts of capacity could be affected if the rules are fully implemented.
At least 570 coal-fired units with 300 gigawatts of capacity could still come online, despite dramatic overcapacity of coal in China.
The local energy sector is expected to be the next driver for foreign direct investment growth in Vietnam this year.
With public opposition to major infrastructure projects a growing concern, and willing partners in neighboring countries eager to pick of the slack, Thailand’s industrialists are fanning out in all directions. Energy projects dominate the mix, including coal, gas and hydropower. As a result, it’s the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand driving much of the activity.
ACTIVISTS have voiced concern that a coal-fired power plant proposed for Thepa district in Songkhla will cause more violence in the Deep South – as mosques, a religious school and Muslim cemeteries would have to be moved to make way for the plant.
They also claimed that all three public hearings about the plant and its coal transport pier were not held properly. They have said the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) should revoke the Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA) on the project.
Yesterday, the Southernmost People’s Network of Community Right and Environment Safeguard for Peace (Permatamas) and a group of locals and students from Prince of Songkla University’s Pattani Campus gathered at ONEP to give a petition to the agency’s secretary general.
While initiatives by the Asian Development Bank, ASEAN, United States, Japan, France and the private sector aim to advance renewable energy within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), coal-fired power plants are slated to become an increasingly larger share of the region’s electricity generating portfolio.
Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has announced his government’s intention to “review development plans of all new coal plants and halt any new coal power development.”
According to Solarplaza, the Premier stated that Vietnam needs to “responsibly implement all international commitments in cutting down greenhouse gas emissions; and to accelerate investment in renewable energy.”
The announcement comes in advance of the Solar PV Trade Mission, scheduled April 18 – 22 in Hanoi and Bangkok. It is hoped the trade missions will assemble diverse high-level delegations of stakeholders from around the world into emerging markets to jointly explore and create business development opportunities.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has assigned the Energy Institute to adjust the seventh electricity generation development plan (PDP 7) before being submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.
Experts have repeatedly warned that the forecast demand and the required investment capital are high, which will put a heavy burden on the national economy.
However, there is another reason cited to adjust PDP 7: the plan does not show appropriate attention to sustainable development in electricity generation. With the plan, Vietnam will still heavily rely on coal thermopower plants.
Interview: Devi Thant Cin is a well-known environmentalist and coordinator of the Myanmar Green Network. The non-government organisation has been using the increasing space for civil society in Myanmar in recent years to lobby against environmentally damaging mega projects, such as the Myitsone hydropower dam on the Ayeyarwaddy River.
More than 30 representatives from Bamnetnarong District in Chaiyapoom province submitted a letter to ASEAN diplomatic representative, protesting the coal-fired power plant for Potash mining project. The content of the letter stated that ASEAN Potash Mining Company Limited (Public) is pushing the construction plan of coal power plants for use in the mining operation, informing the villagers that Thailand shortage of energy. And the villagers against the use of coal for electricity generation.
