“The Irrawaddy learnt that regime ministers have approached the Chinese state-owned State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) to explore pathways for reviving Myitsone, forming a review committee with officials from the Ministry of Electric Power and Kachin State Natural Resources Ministry to work with SPIC Yunnan International Power Investment, SPIC’s subsidiary and successor to China Power Investment Corporation, the original developer.”
“Located 3.2 km south of the Mali Kha-N’Mai Kha river confluence in Myitkyina, Kachin State, the Myitsone Dam is a planned 6,000 MW, US$ 3.6 billion megaproject that would flood an area comparable to Singapore, displace over 10,000 people, and severely damage biodiversity and the Irrawaddy River system — risks that led President Thein Sein to suspend the project in 2011.”
“China’s installed generation capacity now exceeds 3,000-3,900 GW, while peak demand is around 1,400-1,600 GW, creating large system-level spare capacity. Data from institutions such as the International Energy Agency and China’s National Energy Administration show that capacity growth—especially in hydropower, solar, and wind—continues to outpace demand growth. Structurally, China already produces more capacity than it can use at peak, even accounting for grid constraints and intermittency. Myitsone is therefore not an energy-security project.”