Country Study Myanmar: Sustainable increase in power generation capacity - a review of effective options

摘要

Myanmar has a huge potential for fast economic development and growth. However, the growth is very much dependent on the country’s capacity to develop a reliable power infrastructure to increase access to electricity and to support industrial development. For that matter, it is crucial that the country conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the appropriate fuel mix and different generation technologies that are available for power generation both in short and long term. This paper provides a review on Myanmar’s power system today, assesses the fuel and technology options available, and makes some recommendations for both short and long-term power generation options. The paper recommends dual-fuel medium speed internal combustion engines capable of running on HFO initially and switching to natural gas when available as a practical and feasible solution for increasing Myanmar’s permanent power generation capacity quickly. Furthermore, the paper reveals that dual fuel combustion engines prove to be the optimum solution keeping in mind short-term constraints as well as long-term needs of the country. Medium speed combustion engines have considerably lower life-cycle cost of generation than alternative technologies.