China Eximbank provides export seller's credit for 230kV Nabar-Shrebo-Ohntaw Power Transmission Line and Substation Project (Linked to Project ID#63968)

In January 2016, China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co., Ltd (CET) and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy of Myanmar signed a $133.47 million EPC+F (engineering, procurement, construction, and finance) contract for the 230kV Nabar-Shrebo-Ohntaw Power Transmission Line and Substation Project. Under most EPC+F contractual arrangements, the EPC contractor is responsible for securing a loan to finance the EPC contract but the host government is responsible for providing a sovereign guarantee on debt repayment and an equity infusion. Under the terms of the January 2016 EPC+F contract, the Government of Myanmar was responsible for financing 35% of the project cost (through an equity infusion) and CET was responsible for securing financing for the remaining 65%. China Eximbank issued an export seller’s credit to CET to finance its portion of the EPC+F contract (worth $86,755,000, or 65% of $133.47 million). CET also secured credit insurance from Sinosure. Ministry of Electricity and Energy of Myanmar is the project owner. China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company is the EPC contractor. The purpose of the project was to construct two 230kV substations (the Shwebo primary substation and Ohndaw substation) and two 230kV double-circuit transmission lines (measuring 290 km in length) that pass through Nabar and Shwebo before reaching Ohntaw. The transmission line starting point is at the Dapein (1) Hydropower Station [also known as the Taiping River Hydropower Station or တာပိန်(၁)] in Kachin State and the ending point is near Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar. The geographical coordinates of the Dapein (1) dam are east longitude of 97°31´35" and north latitude of 24°25´18". The geographical coordinates of the Dapein (1) power plant are east longitude of 97°30´02" and north latitude of 24°24´15"15. The ultimate purpose of the project is to expand access to electricity in Kachin state and Sagaing Region. The project is an important part of Myanmar's "Northern Power to South" backbone power grid. After the completion of the project, the northern Myanmar power grid will be connected with the Myanmar national backbone network, and the electricity in the northern Myanmar region will be easily transported to the southern region to help solve the power shortage problem in southern Myanmar. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 10, 2017. Dr. Tun Naing, Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for Ministry of Electricity and Energy, conducted an on-site project inspection on December 31, 2018. A project completion ceremony was held on January 11, 2020. The project was originally expected to reach completion in October 2019. China Eximbank also provided a loan for the construction of the Dapein (1) power plant (captured in Project ID#63968).

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 58T Project, the 230 kV Electricity Backbone Network Connectivity Project, and the 230 kV Bhamo-Nabar-Shwebo-Ohndaw Transmission Line project. The Chinese project title is 230千伏主干网连通工程卖贷项目 or 北克钦邦与230千伏主干网连通工程 or 58T项目 or 缅甸230千伏主干网连通工程 or 缅甸克钦邦北部230KV电网. 2. 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. 3.

The face value of the export seller’s credit (transaction amount) from China Eximbank is assumed to be equivalent to 65% of $133.47 million due to the EPC+F contractual arrangements described in the project description.

Number of official sources

11

Number of total sources

20