MYANMAR – The junta council’s Ministry of Electricity admitted that the electricity cuts and outages in the country are because they can only supply around 50% of the country’s electricity demand.
It is reportedly due to the decreasing output of natural gas, damages to electrical cables and ongoing repairs to generators that were affected by water damage during the flood. The 30 hydro power plants, 27 natural gas power plants, two coal power plants and eight solar power plants in the country have a capacity of 7,248 Mega Watts but can only produce 2,800 Mega Watts due to the current circumstances. There is said to be a net loss of 1,487 Mega Watts due to damages to the 230 KV and 132 KV cables from generators and the power supply from natural gas power plants also fell by around 227 Mega Watts due to the lower supply of natural gas while there is a net loss of 1,714 Mega Watts from the hydro power plants and natural gas power plants.
The nationwide electricity demand is increasing by 9% annually and the daily total demand is 5,483 Mega Watts but only around 2,800 Mega Watts can be supplied daily due to the current situation, barely 50% of the demand. The junta council ministry also said that the ratio of households requiring electricity increased from 56% in 2021 to 68% in November, 2024.
The junta council has also announced that electricity will be cut twice a day for eight hours in the four districts of Yangon starting November 5 and the industry zones will only receive electricity for four hours a day.
