Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power sent a thank-you letter for safe and stable power supply from the Shweli Hydropower Station

Recently, Myanmar Deputy Minister of Electric Power, Mr. U Myint Zaw sent a thank-you letter to Yunnan United Power Development Co., Ltd. (affiliated to Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower Co., Ltd.) on behalf of the Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power, expressing gratitude to the Company for good management of the Shweli Hydropower Station, and long-term safe and stable power supply for Myanmar since its commercial operation, especially during the drought period and critical power shortage in Myanmar this summer.

Though Myanmar experienced drought and severe power shortage this summer, Shweli Hydropower Station gave full play to its advantages in operation management and was able to supply electricity to Myanmar safely and steadily. In the letter, Deputy Minister Mr. U Myint Zaw said, “Shweli Hydropower Station has been safely and stably supplying power to the national power grid system of Myanmar without any accident since its commercial operation in 2008…we fully realize that it would have been very difficult for Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power to overcome such challenges without the effective and efficient management of the Shweli Hydropower Station and the highly professional personnel of the Station.”

Shweli Hydropower Station is the largest Chinese BOT hydropower project in Myanmar and also the first overseas power project of Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower Co., Ltd. As the second largest hydropower station in Myanmar, it is reputed as the “Three Gorges Project in Myanmar”. The project strictly implemented the Huaneng Construction Policies of “high quality, high speed and low cost” and the Huaneng Construction Requirements for “safety, speediness, excellence, cost-effectiveness and integrity”, and strove to build an outstanding project. The first generating unit of the Station was put into operation only about two years after construction began. The project construction was highly commended by the Ministry of Electric Power and state leaders of Myanmar, and was deemed as “exemplary project” in Sino-Myanmar cooperation. This Project was granted with national-level “High-quality Project (Overseas Projects) Silver Award” in 2012.

After the Shweli Hydropower Station was connected to the power grid system, the Myanmar’s national power grid has been much more stable, with major parameters such as voltage and frequency highly enhanced, and power grid breakdown incidents substantially decreased by more than 50%. As of August, 2013, Shweli Hydropower Station had safely operated for more than 1,700 days, and supplied more than 7 billion KWh of electricity to Myanmar, among which more than 2 billion KWh was made available to Myanmar free of charge, equivalent to more than RMB 400 million Yuan, and it had paid taxes of about RMB 300 million Yuan, which effectively mitigated power shortage in Myanmar, vigorously supported the economic development of Myanmar and helped increase local people’s living standard.

In June, 2011, the situation was increasingly tense in the north of Myanmar. With strong sense of responsibility and work ethics, the employees of Shweli Hydropower Station stuck to their posts in the Station, and maintained safe operation of equipments so that the Station was able to supply power for Myanmar during that special period. In 2012, Myanmar suffered severe power shortage in dry seasons. Upon Myanmar’s request, the Station reconnected one generating unit to Myanmar’s powder grid which had been originally connected to Chinese power grid, as a result, power supply from this Station accounted for 15%-30% of Myanmar’s total during the most intense period. In the first half of 2013, severe drought occurred in Myanmar, and there was a big gap between power supply and demand in Myanmar. In order to ensure normal power consumption in Myanmar, the Station actively adjusted its operation modes and planned maintenance time, and allocated more than 70% of the electricity generated from the Station to Myanmar power grid, and helped get through this difficult and challenging period.

Shweli Hydropower Station actively assumed its corporate social responsibility, and made massive investment in constructing and repairing roads, building hospitals and donated materials to local schools etc. In 2012, the Station deployed lots of manpower and materials to erect power supply lines for nearby villages in order to supply power to local residents. Such “give-back to communities” efforts have won high praise from Myanmar people near the Station, and enhanced friendship between both sides.