China in talks to sell electricity to Myanmar amid warming ties

Myanmar is in initial talks to buy electricity from China, according to offi cials and documents reviewed by Reuters, the latest sign of warming ties with the Chinese government under leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Since taking offi ce in April last year, Suu Kyi has sought to repair relations that were strained when a previous semi- civilian government in 2011 blocked a China- backed dam, which was supposed to send most of its electricity to Southwest China’s Yun- nan Province.

Three Chinese State- owned companies have proposed separate plans to plug Myanmar’s national power grid into Yunnan’s electricity network, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and two people familiar with the talks.

Rural Yunnan, which generates about 85 percent of its electricity from hydropower, already sends surplus power to more developed eastern China, as well as Vietnam and Laos.

While China has been sup- plying power on a small scale to some remote Myanmar towns near their shared border, the talks are the first to discuss connecting the national grid soft he two countries to meet Myanmar’s urgent demand for electricity.

With only one- third of Myanmar’s population connected to the grid and major cities experiencing blackouts, buying electricity from Yunnan could be a shortterm solution to boost its power supply, the two people familiar with the talks said.

“China welcomes the plan, but Myanmar is still reviewing the details,” said one of the people, a senior Myanmar energy official. The “government- to- government talks” are still at an early stage, the official added, with details such as price and liming still to be worked out. Htain Lwin, spokesman of Myanmar's ministry of electric-ity and energy, confirmed initial talks had taken place but declined to comment further. "Myanmar needs electricity, and if China offers a compelling plan to provide more power, then it ought to be considered," said Jeremy Mullins, research director at Yangon-based consulting firm Myanmar Energy Monitor. One proposal is from State-owned China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co, which signed a memorandum of understanding with Myan-mar in March last year to build a high-voltage transmission line running from the border town of

Muse, in northeastern Myanmar, to Meiktila in the center of the country, the documents show.

The agreement was extended for six months in May this year and a feasibility study for the 500- kilovolt transmission line is under way.

State- run China Southern Power Grid Co proposed a similar plan in June to carry power from Yunnan via a high- voltage cable, according to the documents.

A third plan, proposed by CSG’s subsidiary Yunnan International Co, would use an existing cable to carry power to Meiktila from Yunnan via Muse, Reuters reported.