China Eximbank provides $200 million preferential buyer’s credit for Hydraulic Steel Structure (Lot HSS-1) of 790MW Yeywa Hydropower Plant Project (Linked to Project ID#64085)

On August 15, 2003, China Eximbank and the Central Bank of Myanmar signed a $200 million preferential buyer's credit (PBC) agreement for the Hydraulic Steel Structure (Lot HSS-1) of the 790MW Yeywa Hydropower Plant Project. The estimated borrowing terms of the PBC are as follows: a 2.999% interest rate, a 5.721 year grace period, and a 14.6265 maturity. It is known that the borrower was to use the PBC proceeds to finance a commercial contract between the Hydroelectric Power Department (HPD) of Myanmar’s Ministry of Electricity and China National Electric Equipment Corporation (CNEEC), which was signed on March 24, 2004. On the same day (March 24, 2004), a MOU was signed between Myanmar's Hydroelectric Power Department (HPD), CITIC, Sinohydro regarding the Hydraulic Steel Structure (Lot HSS-2) and Electromechanical Equipment (Lot EM-1) for the Yeywa Hydropower Plant Project. However, it is unclear if Lot HSS-2 and Lot EM-1 were financed by a separate loan. Then on July 15, 2005, China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) Technology Co Ltd and Sinohydro Corporation Ltd signed contracts worth $125 million: CITIC agreed to supply $113.13 million worth of generators and transformers and Sinohydro agreed to provide $12.50 million worth of water-gate doors and pipelines. China Gezhouba Water and Power (Group) Co Ltd also signed a contract worth $46.32 million in August 2005 for the construction of a reinforced concrete dam with the supply of machinery equipment. A year later, on September 2, 2005, China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC) signed contracts with Myanmar's Hydroelectric Power Department (HPD) on the implementation of the Yeywa Hydropower Project. Under the contracts worth $45.84 million, CHMC agreed to supply 230 KV transmission lines and substations for the Yeywa Hydropower Project (as captured via Project ID#64085). The purpose of the $700 million project was to construct a 790MW hydroelectric power plant on the Myitnge River in Yeywa village, Kyaukse Township, and Mandalay Region. The dam design comprises a 137 meters (449 ft) high RCC embankment gravity dam, built of 2,800,000 cubic meters (99,000,000 cu ft) of concrete. The dam includes an ungated spillway of reinforced conventional concrete cast after RCC placement, located in the central section of the dam for a design flood water discharge of 6,600 cubic meters per second (230,000 cu ft/s). The 448-foot (137 m) wide spillway consists of eight 56-foot (17 m) wide and 39-foot (12 m) high outlets. There is a 790 MW (4 × 197.5 MW) powerhouse at the toe of the dam on the south bank of the river. The power house containing the turbines and generators is 510 feet (160 m) long, 148 feet (45 m) wide and 197 feet (60 m) high. The power house and dam structures are designed to withstand earthquakes of up to eight on the Richter scale. The power generation facilities consist of four water intakes, each consisting of 22-foot (6.7 m) diameter and 492-foot (150 m) long high tensile steel pipe penstocks and four vertical axis Francis turbines and generator units and associated electro-mechanical and auxiliary equipment installed in an open air powerhouse. Four water intake towers were built as conventional reinforced concrete structures abutting the upstream (east) face of the RCC dam. There is one permanent 10-meter (33 ft) diameter, 450-meter (1,480 ft) long, diversion tunnel in the north river bank serving as a bottom outlet. This outlet tunnel enables reservoir drawdown and control during reservoir filling, maintenance of downstream riparian river flow during the impounding period and, together with the spillway, serves to redirect flood waters of the Myitnge river and maintain river flow during an emergency when all turbines are closed down. Two double circuit 230 kV transmission lines connect the main transformers located on the downstream side of the powerhouse to an open-air switchyard, located on the south river bank 550 meters (1,800 ft) downstream of the powerhouse. The Yeywa Dam supplies electric power to the Meiktila Sub-Power Station through the 110 km (68 mi) long Yeywa-Meiktila 230 kV double power line link to the southwest and to the Bellin Substation through another 50 km (31 mi) long 230 kV double power line link in the west. The Bellin and the Meiktila Sub-Power Stations are linked to each other with 100 km long 23 kV double power lines. CNEEC was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. However, China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) Technology Co Ltd, Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CHMC), and China Gezhouba Water and Power (Group) Co Ltd were also involved in the implementation of the $700 million 790MW Yeywa Hydropower Plant (HPP) Project. River diversion was completed on December 12, 2004 and roller-compacted concrete (RCC) placement began on February 8, 2006. All four generators were commissioned in 2010. The project was completed on December 15, 2010.

Additional details

1. The China Eximbank loan that supported this project is not included in the Overseas Development Finance Dataset that Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center published in December 2020. 2. On March 24, 2004, an MOU was signed by the Government of Myanmar, CITIC, and Sinohydro on Hydraulic Steel Structure (Lot HSS-2) and Electromechanical Equipment (Lot EM-1) of 790MW Yeywa Hydropower Plant Project. It is unclear how Lot HSS-2 and Lot EM-1 were financed. However, Myanmar’s Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development reports that the Government of Myanmar contracted a $177.16 million loan between 2006 and 2009 for the 790MW Yeywa Hydropower Plant Project. 3. In November 2014, China Eximbank and the Central Bank of Myanmar signed a preferential buyer's credit (PBC) agreement on the Design, Supply, Installation and Commissioning of Hydraulic Steel Structure and Electromechanical Works Project for Upper Yeywa Hydropower Station (see https://www.gnlm.com.mm/president-u-thein-sein-chinese-premier-li-hold-talks-at-presidential-palace/ and https://www.dropbox.com/s/b75zbs3thlw15bl/President%20U%20Thein%20Sein%2C%20Chinese%20Premier...l%20Palace%20-%20Global%20New%20Light%20Of%20Myanmar.pdf?dl=0). However, the face value of the loan and the scope of the project are unknown. 4. For the time being, AidData relies upon the borrowing terms (2.99 interest rate, 5.721 grace period, 14.6265 maturity) that are recorded in the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System (DRS). See https://www.dropbox.com/s/ab8qt4n6jijcbhd/IDS_Average%20interest%20on%20new%20external%20debt%20commitments.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/949n5rctiue6d7c/IDS_Average_grace_period_and_maturity_on_new_external_debt_commitments.xlsx?dl=0 5. This project is also known as the 790MW Upper Yeywa Hydropower Plant Project and the Yeywa Hydro Power Project. The Chinese project title is 耶瓦项目 or 耶育瓦水电站的建设 or 耶育瓦水电站的 or 耶涯水电站. The Burmese project title is အထက္ရဲရြာ or အထက္ရဲရြာေရအားလွ်ပ္စစ္ or ရဲရွာရေအားလျှပ်စစ်ဓာတ်အားပေးစက်ရ or ရဲရွာ တာတမံ. 6. The Yeywa HPP is the largest hydropower project in Myanmar. It is known locally as the ‘Three Gorges Project’ in Myanmar. The electricity from the power plant is transmitted to the whole country through Kyaukse, Meikhtila and Mandalay via 230 KV double cable lines.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

40