Chawalit Tippawanich, president and CEO of Global Power Synergy Co Ltd (GPSC), said that the New Yangon Development Co Ltd (NYDC) of Myanmar has chosen PTT Group, comprising PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) and GPSC, to develop the electricity production system in New Yangon City, which borders Yangon.
“For the later steps, the PTT Group will further discuss the details and talk with GAIL (India), which won the contract for sourcing natural gas for the development of the New Yangon project. PTT will require the natural gas supplied by GAIL for the development of the project,” said Chawalit.
“It is too early to disclose details of the project as discussions between all parties are pending. The production of electricity must take into account the demand for electricity in the area, both in household and industrial sectors,” he added.
NYDC announced the development of New Yangon City project last year. The new area will be built on 20,000 acres of agricultural land on the opposite bank of the river from Yangon. It is expected that the New Yangon City project will create two million new jobs. The project is waiting for approval from the central government.
Chawalit said that in terms of investment in Myanmar, PTT Group is also following the progression of two possible projects. The first is the Gas to Power project with a capacity of 600 megawatts on which GPSC and PTTEP will collaborate to cater to the demand for electricity in Myanmar by using natural gas as its fuel. The supplied gas will come from Zawitka and M3 fields in Myanmar. A second project is currently under wraps.
“For GPSC’s total business plan in the next five years, we aim at having 5,500 megawatts in overall power production capacity, of which one-third will from conventional fuels, such as oil, gas, and coal. Another third will from alternative energy and one-third from the operational growth driven by parent company PTT, which will focus on expansion both domestically and within the Asean Economic Community,” he said.