5,080 Villages to Receive Electricity with World Bank Support This Year

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5,080 Villages to Receive Electricity with World Bank Support This Year

Myanmar Times, 05 Feb 2019

URL: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/5080-villages-receive-electricity-world-bank-support-year.html
A total of 5080 villages will receive electricity this year as part of the National Electrification Plan (NEP) which is currently under implementation with World Bank assistance, U Thura Aung Bo, project manager and deputy chief engineer of NEP, told The Myanmar Times.

Of the US$400 million allocated to the NEP by the World Bank, US$90million has been channelled towards off-grid village electrification by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation while the remaining US$310 million is for grid extension by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE).

Under Phase 1 of the grid extension, a total of 5080 villages within two miles of the national grid will be electrified before the year ends. These include villages in Bago Region, Mon State, Kayin State, Ayeyarwady Region, Mandalay Region and Yangon Region, said U Thura Aung Bo.

A second round of contracts inked at the end of last month will see villages in Sagaing Region, Magwe Region, Chin State, Shan State and Rakhine State receive access to electricity this year. More tenders and contracts will be awarded this month, he said.

As a whole, the World Bank loan will raise the country’s access to electricity by 9.5 percent. The MOEE’s aim is for the whole country to be electrified by 2030.