Using solar power, the plan will focus on areas that are not yet connected to the national grid, said Khin Maung Win, spokesperson of the department.

The LED programme will provide lighting with solar power and would reach all remote communities in the state that have not yet been connected to the grid, he said.

Solar LED lighting was planned to be installed in 10 to 15 years to support all rural areas in Kayin which have no power. It will focus on places about 10 miles from the national grid or farther, said U Soe Hlaing, Kayin’s minister of Energy and Electricity.

“The main problem for Kayin is that most of its residents are afraid to harm the environment when we plan projects such as coal-fired power plants,” he said.

Sometime they need to balance development and environmental issues, but they never try to find win-win solutions, U Soe Hlaing said.

Coal power plants and hydropower dams are hot issues in Kayin, as residents strongly object to these projects even though they are suffering from lack of electricity.

Electrification plans for Kayin this year would cover five townships with about 30 villages and 2621 houses.

The NEP aims to increase access to electricity in Myanmar through grid extension, which will support the distribution of utilities by extending networks and connecting communities and households to the national power grid. The second component is off-grid electrification. About 5.5 million households will not have access to the national grid by 2021. Of these, 1.3 million are in remote Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Shan, Rakhine, Tanintharyi and Sagaing states and regions.

‘This is the first step to provide electricity to far-flung communities that are not yet connected to the national grid.’ Khin Maung Win, Rural Development Department

The project’s off-grid component targets communities in these areas, located far beyond the existing national grid and unlikely to receive access in the next 10 or more years.

The third component is technical assistance and project management.

The World Bank provided US$80 billion for the NEP and another $10 billion in technical support.

“We accept if they want to give us electricity access but we never accept if our environment is affected. We disagree with coal-fired power plants and hydropower dams,” said Saw Aung Myo of Kamar village in Hpa-an township.

For more details : https://www.mmtimes.com/news/world-bank-project-light-remote-kayin.html