Aboitiz Power Corp. and partner SN Power of Norway plan to invest in a large impounding hydro project with a capacity of “several hundreds” of megawatts in Myanmar, a top executive said Wednesday.
The move is part of the company’s strategy to expand its power portfolio given the current oversupply of power in the domestic market.
“That’s definitely one outlet. If you look at it, there’s no need to build any new plants here for at least five to seven years. Given what’s being built right now, so yes, you can either go outside or you buy somebody. Adding new capacity is probably not the solution,” Aboitiz Power president Antonio Moraza told reporters.
He said some Aboitiz Power representatives already visited Myanmar to conduct studies on the planned investment.
“We are partnering with our partner in Magat”•SN Power,” he said, adding they may also team up with a local company in Myanmar.
Moraza said SN Aboitiz had the expertise to develop hydro projects, having over 15,000 MW of capacity in Norway.
Moraza said the company would focus on hydro power opportunities in Myanmar, instead of geothermal projects. “Our experience with geothermal is I think we’ve come to realize that it is riskier than we thought,” he said.
Moraza said Aboitiz Power was also moving forward with a hydro project in Indonesia, despite the company’s decision to exit geothermal projects in that country. Aboitiz Power is pursuing the project with SN Power AS and PT Energi Infranusantara along the Lariang River in Central Sulawesi which has the potential capacity of 400 MW to 500 MW.
