Challenges
- Newly opened market following end of sanctions
- Vastly underdeveloped, aging infrastructure
- Rapid need for large-scale power utilizing indigenous natural gas
Background
Myanmar is the second-largest natural gas producer in Southeast Asia. However, sanctions and insufficient investment by foreign firms have impeded the country’s efforts to realize its energy production potential. This has left Myanmar with an underdeveloped infrastructure, aging power plants and nearly 75 percent of its population without access to electricity. In 2012, sanctions were lifted by the United States and many European Union nations. In February 2014, APR Energy executed the first power generation agreement signed post-sanctions by a U.S.-based company with the government of Myanmar.
Solution
Myanma Electric Power Enterprise selected APR Energy based on its ability to rapidly design and deploy large-scale power plants, as well as optimize the use of indigenous natural gas resources in a fast, efficient and effective manner. APR Energy deployed the newest-generation CAT® G3516C low-emission gas power modules, along with balance of plant, to install its Kyaukse power plant in less than 90 days. The plant was expanded in 2015 to deliver a minimum 102MW of electricity, making it one of the largest thermal plants in the country. To install, operate and maintain the plant, APR Energy sourced approximately 70 percent of its workers locally, providing valuable skills training and furthering economic development in the community.
Outcome
As the largest U.S.-based power provider in Myanmar, APR Energy is bringing power to over six million people and supporting industry growth. The Kyaukse site is one of Myanmar’s cleanest-burning power plants, using the country’s indigenous natural gas resources, and provides efficiency similar to that of permanent power plants operating in the country. The project has won multiple industry awards, including being named one of POWER magazine’s “Top Plants 2015.”