1. The
various ministries
The power
sector is presently overseen by several Union Ministries:
Union Ministry
|
Minister
|
Brief description
of the area of competence
|
Electric Power and Energy
(formerly divided into the Ministry of Electric Power and the Ministry of
Energy)
|
U Pe Zin Tun (since 6
April 2016; former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Energy; no party
affiliation)
|
- Electric
power: Planning, generation (coal, hydro, gas, oil, solar, wind, geothermal), transmission, distribution
- Energy:
Production, import/export, distribution of oil and gas and derived products
|
Natural Resources and
Environmental Conservation
(formerly divided into the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of
Environmental Conservation and Forestry)
|
U Ohn Win (since 30 March
2016; former professor of forestry at Yezin University; no party affiliation)
|
- Production,
import/export and distribution of coal
- Biomass
and firewood
- Environmental
impact assessment
|
Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
(formerly divided into Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and
Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development)
|
U Aung Thu (since 30 March
2016; former rector of Yangon University, NLD)
|
- Rural
electrification (off-grid), e.g. mini-hydro
- Hydropower
facilities connected to irrigation
|
Ministry of Industry
|
U Khin Maung Cho (since 30
March 2016; engineer; no party affiliation)
|
Energy efficiency and conservation, (theoretically:) nuclear power,
formerly: off-grid rural electrification (was transferred to Ministry of
Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development)
|
It is
not as apparent now that a number of ministries were merged in the wake of the
handover of power to the new NLD led government (in particular the Ministry of
Energy and the Ministry of Electric Power), but energy and electricity policy
was rather fragmentized due to the high number of ministries under the previous
government whose areas of competence were sometimes not clearly demarcated. In
order to create a framework for the establishment of a coherent policy, the
previous government instituted a “National
Energy Management Committee” on 9 January 2013 which comprised at the time
members of the following Union Ministries and other organizations:
Composition
of the National Energy Management Committee under the old government
|
Old
Ministry name/name of the organization
|
Fate
of the old Ministry/organization after the change of government
|
Ministry of Energy
|
Merged to Ministry of Electric Power and Energy
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
|
Merged with the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural
Development to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
|
Ministry of Mines
|
Merged to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation
|
Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry
|
Ministry of Industry
|
Still exists
|
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development
|
Merged with the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Planning and
Finance
|
Ministry of Science and Technology
|
Ministry abolished
|
Myanmar Engineering Society
|
Still exists
|
Renewable Energy Association Myanmar
|
Still exists
|
The
National Energy Management Committee made good on its intended role and
published, on 8 January 2016, a “Myanmar
Energy Masterplan” (http://tinyurl.com/zw93vw6),
a 900+ pages document with projections up to the year 2030.
It
remains to be seen how the new government will reshape the National Energy
Committee. Its former members consisted largely of Union ministers who are not
in office any more.
It
should be noted that, although the Ministry
of Electric Power and Energy is the lead ministry in almost every power
project, a number of other ministries and government entities will often have
to be consulted. Examples:
- The Ministry of Transport and Communications (Department
of Meteorology and Hydrology) is responsible for “measurements, assessment
and monitoring for rivers” in hydropower projects (Myanmar Energy Masterplan
page 193).
- The Chief Minister of the State or Region
in which the project is located has to approve if the project (as will usually
be the case) involves the long-term use of land
It is
furthermore clear that foreign-invested power projects require an investment
permit from the Myanmar Investment
Commission or, if they are located in a special economic zone, from the
relevant Special Economic Zone
Management Committee.
2. The
Ministry of Electric Power and Energy
The
Ministry of Electric Power and Energy (“MoEPE”)
was merged, on 30 March 2016, from two previously separate ministries, the
Ministry of Electric Power and the Ministry of Energy. The previous Ministry of
Electric Power had been separated from the Ministry of Energy in 1997 and
split, from 2006 to 2012, into No. 1 Ministry of Electric Power and No. 2 Ministry
of Electric Power.
MoEPE
is central to the production, transmission and distribution of electric power.
Electricity is produced either by Myanmar
Electric Power Enterprise (which now seems to have morphed into Electric Power Generation Enterprise),
a state-owned economic enterprise under MoEPE, local or foreign independent
power producers or joint ventures between MoEPE and local or foreign investors.
The electricity is then purchased by MoEPE (previously, through Myanmar
Electric Power Enterprise, now - presumably - through Electric Power Generation
Enterprise) and distributed to the consumers (through Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation, Mandalay Electricity Supply Corporation and Electricity Supply Enterprise). MoEPE acts as the single buyer of
electricity, similar to models in Thailand and Indonesia.
Department
|
Under which
Ministry previously?
|
Functions (to the
extent we can make them out - online resources on MoEPE’s homepage have not
been fully updated yet)
|
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)
|
Ministry of Energy
|
- Owner
and operator of oil and gas exploration and production (in production sharing
contracts with local or foreign companies)
- Owner
and operator of onshore gas pipeline grid
|
Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE)
|
Ministry of Energy
|
Operates small refineries and plants to produce petroleum and
petrochemical products (petrol, diesel, jet fuel, urea fertilizers, liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) and others), sometimes in joint ventures with, or by
leasing out the plants to, local or foreign investors.
|
Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE)
|
Ministry of Energy
|
Wholesale and retail of petroleum products; intends to partly do so
in joint ventures with local or foreign investors
|
Department of Electric Power Transmission and System Control (DEPTSC)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Engineering service for power system operation, power system
planning, operation and maintenance of transmission lines and sub-stations,
operation and maintenance of power system telecommunication facilities
|
Electricity Supply Enterprise (ESE)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Operation of the national grid and distribution of electricity in all
areas of Myanmar with the exception of Yangon and Mandalay
|
Department of Electric Power Planning (DEPP)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Planning of the production of electric power (coal, hydro, gas, oil,
solar, wind, geothermal)
|
Electric Power Generation Enterprise (EPGE)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Production of electric power (coal, hydro, gas, oil, solar, wind,
geothermal)
|
Department of Hydropower Implementation (DHPI)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Planning, design, quality control, project appraisal and feasibility
evaluation of hydropower projects
|
Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Operation of the national grid and distribution of electricity in
Yangon
|
Mandalay Electricity Supply Corporation (MESC)
|
Ministry of Electric Power
|
Operation of the national grid and distribution of electricity in
Mandalay
|
A note
on the word “enterprise” in the table above: MOGE and the other enterprises are
so-called state-owned economic enterprises (SEEs) which makes them more akin to
a government unit than a corporation. The function of SEEs is two-fold: They
are supposed to generate income through business activities (and nowadays they
even have to pay tax on it) and, at the same time, function as the regulator of
the industry in which they operate. It is clear that this gives rise to
conflicts of interest and is not an ideal situation. It is expected that
medium-term, the SEEs will be transformed into ordinary public companies (in
which the state may still have exclusive or majority ownership) and stripped of
their regulatory functions. YESC and MESC reportedly underwent corporatization
to become public companies in mid-2015 (http://tinyurl.com/h4dodtf).
