Myanmar launches second tender for utility-scale PV

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Despite an ongoing military coup and increasing instability, the government of Myanmar has decided to move forward with another tender for the development of utility-scale solar.

The country’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) issued an invitation to bid for the construction of ground-mounted solar power projects on an independent power producer (IPP) and build-operate-own (BOO) basis.

Interested developers will have to submit their project proposals to state-owned utility Electric Power Generation Enterprise (EPGE), which was formerly known as Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise, by August 21. Selected projects will be granted a 20-year PPA.

The MOEE concluded in September a 1 GW PV tender launched in May 2020 by allocating all of the procured capacity. Final prices ranged from $0.0348/kWh to $0.051/kWh. The biggest winners of the procurement exercise were Chinese inverter maker Sungrow and China Machinery Engineering Corp. (CMEC), with nine and eight projects, respectively.

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A consortium formed by China's State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC) and local company Khaing Long Gems secured four projects. Two more consortia – including a group involving Chinese solar manufacturers Longi and GGL Systems – also won projects. The remaining two bidders, including groups led by German developer ib vogt and Myanmar's Gold Energy, likewise secured projects.

According to the latest statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency, the country reached an installed PV capacity of 84 MW at the end of 2020.

Off-grid solar already plays a key role in Myanmar’s electrification strategy. A number of rooftop PV arrays and minigrid projects having already been developed in rural parts of the country. However, the utility-scale solar segment has also started to take off.

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