A nation of some 55 million and growing as of a 2014 census, just 42% of Myanmar households had access to electricity, according tothe first, June 2019 nationwide assessment of distributed energy market potential in Myanmar, which was produced by Smart Power Myanmar, a national platform with a mandate to. Rising electricity demand, rapid demographic growth and rapid growth of installed solar power capacity in neighboring countries, such as China, India and Thailand, offer. State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in June 2018 officially commissionedthe first, 50-MWdc/40-MWac, phase of Myanmar's inaugural commercial solar power facility, the 220-MWdc/170. Similarly, Smart Power Myanmar's Decentralized Energy Market Assessment demonstrates that solutions such as mini-grids can play a crucial role to bring reliable power to off-grid households and businesses in Myanmar. Finding ways of making mini-grid access affordableto local residents and businesses is key to the success of Myanmar's rural electrification drive, as they are in any country. Solar power in Myanmar has the potential to generate 51,973.8 TWh/year, with an average of over 5 sun hours per day. Even though most electricity is produced from hydropower in Myanmar, the country has rich technical solar power potential that is the highest in the ; however, in terms of installed capacity Myanmar lags largely behind Thailand and Vietnam.
