DHAKA, March 23: The government of Bangladesh is planning to carry out a feasibility study on setting up of one or more hydropower plants in Myanmar for bringing electricity from the next-door neighbour.
Experts believe that Myanmar has a number of potential spots where hydroelectricity can be generated.
The ministry of power of the government of Bangladesh asked the country’s Economic Relations Division last week to manage funds for the study from the country’s development partners, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency, said a high official in the power ministry.
Top officials of the Power Division, Power Development Board, and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh are likely to visit Myanmar soon to discuss about installation of the plants, sources said.
The Myanmar government in December and January last invited Bangladesh to invest in hydroelectric plants in that country after the Power Division had planned such an investment during the fag end of the BNP-led alliance government.
A Myanmar web-based news agency, Narinjara, in January this year reported that the Myanmar energy minister, Brigadier General Lun Thi, during a bilateral meeting in Yangon early that month had urged the Bangladesh ambassador to Myanmar, M Khairuzzaman, to set up hydro-electric plants in their country.
Lun told the Bangladesh ambassador that there was a great opportunity for this in the Southeast Asian country, the agency report said.
Following the ambassador’s meeting with the Myanmar minister, the government of Bangladesh asked its Power Development Board to give its opinion on the issue. The PDB has responded positively.
According to Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power, there are more than 200 potential hydropower sites across the country, with an estimated capacity of generating 38,000MW power. Over 37 per cent of about 1,200MW power generated in Myanmar is hydropower.Thailand has already started investing in hydroelectric projects in Myanmar.
Bangladesh has only one 230MW hydroelectricity plant that uses the water of Kaptai Lake. The country currently suffers from a power shortage to the tune of 1500 to 2000MW during summer and is looking forward to get the comparatively cheaper hydropower from Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.