The demand for electricity in the country is growing by about 15 percent every year, and in the current power system, 47.6 percent of the power production from hydropower generation, 1.7 percent from solar energy and 50.7 percent from thermal energy, said U Nyan Tun, Union Minister for Electric Power and Chairman of the National Renewable Energy Committee (NREC) at the work coordination meeting (1/2024) of the NREC held at the Yeywar Hall of the Ministry of Electric Power in Nay Pyi Taw on February 8.

Union Minister U Nyan Tun said that increasing the use of renewable energy, which is environmentally friendly and has less impact on the social environment, plays an important role in meeting the nation's electricity and energy needs. The demand for electricity in the country is growing by about 15 percent every year, so in the current power system, the proportion of power production sources is 47.6 percent from hydropower, 1.7 percent from solar energy and 50.7 percent from thermal energy. Up to now, the country's electrification ratio is more than 66.67 percent. Myanmar has six solar power plants connected to the national power grip and 11 solar power projects which are under construction. The efforts of NREC are to promote renewable energy generation in the electricity sector and green growth, green energy and green economy.

If renewable energy continues to operate with new technology, productivity and price are appropriate, and more foreign investments come in with the technical and financial support of international organizations, the proportion of renewable energy will improve. Myanmar has some challenges and obstacles to meet the conditional target according to the NDC. Financial support, technical support and human resources are urgently needed in order to reach the state's policy goals. It is necessary for the members who attended to further share the renewable energy activities in the departments and organizations and make recommendations to achieve the goals of the committee. In addition, the discussions of the attending committee members will yield good results for establishing processes for the future goals of the NREC, the Union Minister said.

After that, the Secretary of the NREC explained the status of the activities according to the decisions of the previous meeting and the activities of the NREC support groups.

In addition, the vice chairmen of the NREC, members of the committee and those who attended the meeting had a round-robin discussion about the conditions for cooperation according to their sectors.

Union Minister and Union Attorney General Dr Thida Oo, Union Ministers U Min Naung, U Hla Moe, U Khin Maung Yee, Dr Charlie Than, Dr Myo Thein Kyaw, Nay Pyi Taw Council Chairman U Than Tun Oo, Deputy Ministers and Officials, NREC members attended the meeting.