Myanmar’s former capital city of Yangon is now facing abnormal reduced electric power supply as an old pipeline that carries natural gas from the Mottama offshore gas field to drive power plants in the city leaked again over last week, the local Weekly Eleven News reported Monday.
The shortage of power intensified as the leakage occurred before a new 24-inch alternative gas pipeline was nearing completion and not ready yet to distribute gas to the commercial city from Insein township’s Ywama where gas control and distribution station is based, the Yangon City Electricity Supplying Board was quoted as saying.
Power supply to private enterprises in Yangon was temporarily stopped in mid-May to divert some of the electricity for Yangon residents’ home use as part of the authorities’ provisional measures to ease power shortage in Yangon.
However, the temporary measures of suspending power supply to the small industrial enterprises were resumed in the last week of May except industrial zones.
Myanmar gets a total of 660 megawatts (mw) produced from hydropower and gas power, of which only 330 mw or 50 percent are supplied to Yangon which actually needs 660 mw, according to the report.
The serious shortage of power has prolonged for over three months, affecting the daily life of Yangon residents.
Source: Xinhua