The project will involve rehabilitation and/or major overhaul of Yenwe, Kinda, Monechaung, Thaphanzeik and Zaungtu Hydropower plants. Upon completion of the upgrades, the hydropower plants are expected to be able to run at full capacity, boosting power generation from 565 to 646 million kilowatt hours.

The five plants that have been operating for between 10 and 30 years had experienced mechanical breakdowns due to lack of heavy maintenance. Frequent faults in turbines, generators and control centers caused not only power losses but also commercial losses for the Government.

The project aims to reduce unplanned power outage and improve the remaining life of the power plants by undertaking heavy maintenance work and upgrades. Considering the growing demand for electricity, and expected long time for constructing new power plants, improving electric power supply by rehabilitating existing facilities is considered a quick measure to deal with the current and future increase in electricity demand.

The project is aligned with the Government’s National Electrification Plan goal of electrifying more than 7 million households and achieving access to electricity for 36 million people by 2030. The lack of affordable and reliable power is a key constraint to the delivery of vital services such as health, education and finance for rural population, and for private sector development and job creation.

This project will be implemented using AgenceFrancaise Development (AFD) ODA Fund which is signed the Loan Agreement between Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry and AFD dated on 15th May 2020