China Eximbank pledges $110 million loan for 7110MW Mong Tong Hydropower Plant Construction Project

China Eximbank pledges $110 million loan for 7110MW Mong Tong Hydropower Plant Construction Project In March 2007, China Gezhouba won the bid for the construction of two 1200m long, 8m in diameter diversion tunnels for the Mong Tong Hydropower Project, previously referred to as the Tasang Dam.

In November 2007, CGGC acquired a 51% stake in the Mong Tong Hydropower Plant, leaving Thailand’s MDX Group Co., Ltd with a 24% stake and Burma’s Department of Hydropower Implementation with a 25% stake.

In November 2010, a consortium of companies signed a MOU with MoEE on this project, including China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), Sinohydro and China Southern Power Grid (CSPG), Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand International (EGATi), International Group of Entrepreneurs Company (IGOEC) of Myanmar.

The companies submitted the feasibility study to MoEE in November 2013. The total expected cost of the project is $10 billion.

According to the news release from the Myanmar Energy Brief, China Eximbank provided a $110 million loan to the developers of the 7110 MW Mong Tong Hydropower Project; however, it is unclear if the loan was officially committed.

The project site is located in Mongtong Township and Monghsat district (with Shan State) on the Thanlwin (Salween) river (exact locational coordinates: 20.456389, 98.650000). It was designed with an installed capacity of 7,100MW, though is not expected to be complete for over a decade.

The groundbreaking ceremony was conducted in March 2007, but there has been little activity at the dam site since 2008 when construction stalled because of local opposition. The project is scheduled for completion in 2030.

It is unclear if the EIA commenced by Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) of Australia in October 2014 has been approved by MONREC.

The proposed 7,000 MW Mong Ton HPP, located downstream of Naopha at Monghsat, Shan State, with a 241 m high dam would create a 380 km long 870 km2 reservoir storing an estimated 37,887 hm3 .

By volume, the reservoir would be the largest in Myanmar and about the 26th largest in the world, slightly smaller than the Three Gorges reservoir (39,300 hm3 ).

According to EGATs website the project design was modified at the request of GoM: "The original project has a generating capacity of 7,000 MW, but after the Government of Myanmar considered Feasibility Study Report, the Government of Myanmar requested developer to revising the project formulation by using Cascade Dams platform and reducing the height of the dam to reduce the impact on society and the environment”.

EGATi states on its website that the proposed installed capacity is now 3,000 MW, with 90% of EGATi’s share (900 MW) to be sold to EGAT in Thailand and the other 10% provided to Myanmar free of charge.

Recent alternative designs under discussion with MoEE indicate that the developer is considering two alternative cascade schemes, (a) a two-dam alternative (Mon Tong and Wangon); and (b) a three-dam alternative (Mon Tong, Wanpa and Nansu).

Both alternatives would significantly reduce the volume of stored water and the area inundated, but would maintain the total length of the reservoirs to about 378 km, albeit at much smaller depths. Installed capacity would reduce by about 1,000 MW and 1,700 MW respectively.