A newly established company in Bangkok with no previous power industry experience has provisionally secured an agreement with Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power to build the country’s first solar energy plant.
Green Earth (Thailand) Company Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a large solar “farm” at Minbu near the capital Naypyidaw. Green Earth said the project would eventually have an electricity-generating capacity of 210 megawatts and cost US $275 million.
The MoU was signed in Bangkok with Deputy Minister for Electric Power Aung Than Oo.
Green Earth Managing Director Supasit Skontanarak was quoted by Bloomberg business news agency as saying the project could be completed inside two years. However, Supasit said his company needed to raise development capital and was looking for joint-venture partners.
Green Earth said it is also in discussions with Burma’s Ministry of Electric Power on an agreement for a second solar-power project, to be sited near Rangoon or Mandalay, which would have a generating capacity of 200 megawatts.
Large solar plants, using sun-absorbing photovoltaic panels laid out in rows, need a lot of land and must be located with access to the electricity transmission grid.
Many of the world’s biggest solar-panel manufacturers are in China.
Burma Business Roundup (Saturday, May 11)
