MANDALAY: Leading Singapore-based integrated energy company Sembcorp Industries celebrates the official opening of its $310 million Sembcorp Myingyan Independent Power Plant (IPP) of 225 megawatts in Mandalay, Myanmar.

Developed, owned and operated by Sembcorp, the power plant marks many firsts in Myanmar and represents an important milestone in the development of the country’s power sector.[the_ad id=”32940″]Sembcorp Myingyan’s opening marks the successful delivery of the first competitively-tendered IPP in the country, and demonstrates the success of Myanmar’s new private-public partnership model, a statement issued to Singapore Exchange (SGX) noted.

The project was funded by multilateral institutions like the Asian Development bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as international commercial lenders, including Clifford Capital, DBS Bank, DZ Bank and Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation.

With its world-class commercial structure and bankable project documents, Sembcorp Myingyan has won several awards in the international project finance community, and sets the bar for other IPP projects in Myanmar in the future.

With a contracted capacity of 225 megawatts, the plant is one of the largest combined-cycle gas turbine plants in Myanmar. It is also the country’s most efficient power plant, featuring advanced technology to maximise power output and minimise greenhouse gas emissions.

Unusual for a power plant, Sembcorp Myingyan also has solar panels integrated into its premises. 106 kilowatt peak of solar panels have been installed on the rooftop of the plant’s administrative building and warehouse, with potentially more to come. With this, Sembcorp Myingyan has become Myanmar’s first power plant to integrate both gas-fired and solar power generation.

The solar panels will generate renewable electricity for onsite use, enhancing environmental sustainability of the facility. Having solar power will also mean the plant will need less of the power generated by its gas turbines to run its own operations, thereby maximising the power that Sembcorp Myingyan can export to the grid.