Myanmar’s goal of achieving a 100 per cent electrification rate by 2030, with 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources, is achievable but several hurdles need to be tackled first, energy experts have said.
At the Myanmar Green Energy Summit 2016 last week, panellists agreed that hydroelectricity, plus wind and solar energy, were good choices given available resources.
Sitting in the courtyard of his home in Lopburi Province, 180 kilometers north of Bangkok, Saichol Thanomsak remembers what life was like for the nearly 600 people in Moo 3 Village before Asia’s largest thin-film photovoltaic solar energy project moved in nearby. Land was not fertile and jobs were scarce, forcing breadwinners to seek employment elsewhere. For those who remained, life could be grim.
“The armed forces use nearby fields for firing practice and villagers would collect artillery shells for scrap metal,” he says. “Sometimes they blew up and there were many injuries. Today, we don’t have to take such risks. Our village benefits greatly from the solar plant. It has allowed so many of us to stay home and make a decent living.”
Growing awareness of the impact of air pollution and global warming have been driving more investments in energy from renewable sources and moving green energy to the top of many government policy agendas.
In Southeast Asia, finding the right energy mix is a major challenge as countries strive to ensure that economic growth and environmental protection are compatible.
“The challenge faced by developing countries is balancing the cost of electricity and conservation of the environment,” Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water of Malaysia, said at Sustainable Energy & Technology Asia (SETA) 2016 held in Bangkok late last month.
The government should invest more in sustainable energy, with a focus on solar power, experts told a conference on energy security yesterday, adding that this could reduce Cambodia’s dependence on large-scale hydropower projects and coal-fired plants.
John McGinley, managing director of the Mekong Strategic Partners, told the conference at the Himawari that although solar power would not entirely replace existing energy sources, greater use of solar energy would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. Mr. McGinley added that the installation cost of solar power is affordable compared to large hydropower and coal-fired generators.
Cambodia’s electricity is mainly derived from hydropower, coal plants, and imported energy from Thailand and Vietnam. According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the country’s six hydropower dams generate about 60 percent of total electricity.
Over 300 million people inhabit the Greater Mekong Subregion. For the majority of this population, the river’s vast ecological system is their main market place, since they rely on it for food security, trade, transport, and their livelihoods. As the region’s water resources continue to be developed by the hydropower sector, encouraging sustainable growth is vital. In river basins where multiple projects are planned, companies should consider working together to address the cumulative impacts that are likely to result.
