Business owners seek solutions as power outages worsen this summer
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Lynn/ Yoon (NP News) - Nov 13
During this summer, some business owners in industrial zones have reported that worsening power outages are prompting them to actively seek solutions to address the issue.
Since mid-October this year, industrial zones have been experiencing only four hours of electricity supply per day, leading to increased fuel costs and overall operational expenses.
A business owner from the Shwepaukkan industrial zone told the NP News, "Electricity is only available for four hours a day now, and even that schedule isn’t consistent. Some days, we get the full four hours, but other days we don’t get any. In the past, we used to get eight hours of electricity. Now, some days we get four hours, some days six hours. There’s no day when we get electricity for the full 24 hours anymore. These days, four hours has become the normal. Fuel costs have gone up, and because we still have to run generators, maintenance costs have also increased. All these unnecessary expenses are adding up."
It has been reported that electricity consumption in the country is increasing by nine percent annually. While the total required electricity capacity is 5,483 megawatts, the Ministry of Electric Power (MOEP) is currently only able to produce approximately 2,800 megawatts per day, meeting only about 50 percent of the demand.
As a result, in addition to the labor shortage, business owners in the industrial zones are also facing electricity issues. With the possibility of worsening power outages this summer, they are actively seeking solutions to address these challenges, according to the business owner.
"Normally, power outages would only occur during the summer, but at this time, the frequency of outages is already significant, so we expect it to get worse during the summer. As business owners, we're more concerned about the possibility of more frequent power cuts. The question now is how to solve this issue. Most of us have at least two generators. Every business owner is thinking this way: profits will decrease, but if we want to stay profitable, we must continue operating as much as possible. Factory owners can't just stop their operations easily. Even the smallest companies have around 400 to 500 employees. It's not easy to lay off workers. For now, we’ll just have to endure, as we haven't faced losses yet," said the business owner.
Currently, due to the destruction of 230 kV and 132 kV power lines used for transmitting electricity from power plants, the power production has decreased to 1487 MW, as reported by the Ministry's data.
After the MOEP set new electricity tariffs on August 30, it has been reported that business owners are also expressing a desire for greater access to electricity.
“Charges for the electricity have increased by about three times. This is also due to the power shortages. There are also things that are not operating because of the political situation. We have heard about it. Right now, even foreign business owners are expressing concerns. I haven't heard about businesses shutting down yet, but as long as they can operate, they will continue. The issue of labor shortages is actually worse than the power issue. Right now, we are dealing with both labor shortages and power problems,” said a business owner.
In addition, there are reports that power outages will occur twice a day, with each outage lasting four hours in the townships within Yangon Region. It is also reported that power cuts could last up to 8 hours a day.
In 2021, the proportion of households using electricity nationwide was 56 percent, but by November 2024, this figure has increased to 68 percent, indicating a growth in electricity consumption.
Domestically, one megawatt of electricity can supply power to approximately 3,500 households. In 2022, the average electricity consumption per person was around 378 kilowatts.
Thus, there are calls for resumption of the Myitsone Hydropower Dam Project recently. Approximately over 20,000 megawatts are expected to produce from the seven projects of Myitsone. It is also reported that had the Myitsone Project been completed, it would have been the 15th largest dam in the world as of 2012.