New Sub-station Expected to Light up Karen State Villages
New Sub-station Expected to Light up Karen State Villages
Karen News, 25 Aug 2017
URL: HTTP://KARENNEWS.ORG/2017/08/NEW-SUB-STATION-EXPECTED-TO-LIGHT-UP-KAREN-STATE-VILLAGES.HTML/
Several villages in Karen State may soon be hooked up to the electrical grid once a new sub-station comes online, according to an official from the State Electric Power Enterprise.
“We are trying to distribute power to Myawady, Kawkareik, Kyondoe, Sukali and Waw Lay Myaing from the 230-kV Mawlamyine power station via the Thin Gan Nyi Naung sub-station, which is 95 percent complete. We are trying to provide 24-hour electricity in Myaing Gyi Ngu within this year,” said U Thein Shwe, a deputy chief engineer at the Karen State Electric Power Enterprise.
Among the 308,000 households in Karen State, more than 45 percent rely on candlelight – a fire hazard – for light. Less than 30% are connected to the national grid, which currently reaches only centralized villages proximate to power stations – like those Hpa-an, Hlaingbwe, Zar Ta Pyin, Thandaunggyi, Thandaunglay, and Bawkali towns.
U Thein Shwe said that will soon change with the Thin Gan Nyi Naung sub-station. He added that plans are also in place to distribute power to Ka Ma Maung and Hpa-pun via Kaw Lon Island. A planned 33/11 kV sub-station would also distribute power to Kya-in Seikkyi township.
Under the $5.8 billion National Electrification Project (NEP), the World Bank is subsidizing a solar panel project. The Department of Rural Development sold and installed the reduced-cost panels at 11,442 households in five townships in Kayin State last month.
“The state government and [private companies] have signed contracts to carry out projects for increasing power distribution. If the coal-fired power plant is successfully built in Wut Gyi, then electricity can be provided to many factories and workshops,” said U Tin Myo Oo, the State Hluttaw MP from Kya-in Seikkyi township.
“We are trying to distribute power to Myawady, Kawkareik, Kyondoe, Sukali and Waw Lay Myaing from the 230-kV Mawlamyine power station via the Thin Gan Nyi Naung sub-station, which is 95 percent complete. We are trying to provide 24-hour electricity in Myaing Gyi Ngu within this year,” said U Thein Shwe, a deputy chief engineer at the Karen State Electric Power Enterprise.
Among the 308,000 households in Karen State, more than 45 percent rely on candlelight – a fire hazard – for light. Less than 30% are connected to the national grid, which currently reaches only centralized villages proximate to power stations – like those Hpa-an, Hlaingbwe, Zar Ta Pyin, Thandaunggyi, Thandaunglay, and Bawkali towns.
U Thein Shwe said that will soon change with the Thin Gan Nyi Naung sub-station. He added that plans are also in place to distribute power to Ka Ma Maung and Hpa-pun via Kaw Lon Island. A planned 33/11 kV sub-station would also distribute power to Kya-in Seikkyi township.
Under the $5.8 billion National Electrification Project (NEP), the World Bank is subsidizing a solar panel project. The Department of Rural Development sold and installed the reduced-cost panels at 11,442 households in five townships in Kayin State last month.
“The state government and [private companies] have signed contracts to carry out projects for increasing power distribution. If the coal-fired power plant is successfully built in Wut Gyi, then electricity can be provided to many factories and workshops,” said U Tin Myo Oo, the State Hluttaw MP from Kya-in Seikkyi township.