Myanmar has completed the first phase of its first solar power plant, which will add 40 megawatts (MW) to the national power grid.

News reports said Green Earth Power (Myanmar) is developing the solar power plant in Minbu Township, in upper Myanmar’s Magwe Region in four phases under a build-operate-transfer contract. The Minbu Solar Power will have a total capacity of 170MW and generate 350 million kilowatt hours per year, electrifying about 210,000 households.

Only one-third of the population has electricity. Myanmar needs $2 billion in investments a year to meet growing energy demand. Though rich in energy resources, including hydropower and natural gas, the country lags behind other Asian countries in energy development and production because of several decades of underinvestment.

Read the news articles from The Irrawaddy and The Myanmar Times.