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Marubeni-involved hydropower project in Myanmar to be frozen
The planned freeze is likely linked to the military coup last month that ousted the country's civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked a wave of anti-coup protests that security forces have sought to crush using deadly force.
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In 2014, there were 5.8 blackouts a year of around 5.6 hours each. (Shutterstock/Volker Rauch)
E
lectricite de France SA, one of Europe's largest power companies, will freeze a hydropower project in Myanmar's northeast that also involves major Japanese trading house Marubeni, according to a local civic group briefed on the plan.
The planned freeze is likely linked to the military coup last month that ousted the country's civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked a wave of anti-coup protests that security forces have sought to crush using deadly force.
Marubeni is part of the consortium pushing to build a giant hydropower station on the Shweli River in Shan State, and could be forced to take a related loss.
The French government is a major shareholder in the French utility.
The consortium had planned to build a 671-megawatt hydropower plant there by 2026 at a cost of about $1.5 billion, making it one of the largest projects of the kind in Myanmar.
The French utility, also known as EDF, told the local civic group in writing that it respects human rights and has suspended the development project as a consortium.
It also told the group that it would monitor the situation while consulting with the French government and European Union.
Marubeni has not made public details of its involvement in the project, including the size of its investment.
The Japanese company said in a statement that it will handle the case "appropriately" but did not say how it assesses the project's future prospects.
