Myitsone Dam

The Myitsone Dam (Burmese: မြစ်ဆုံ တာတမံ [mjɪʔsʰòʊɰ̃ tàtəmàɰ̃]; lit. 'Confluence Dam') is a large dam and hydroelectric power development project which was planned to be built in northern Myanmar. The proposed construction site is at the confluence of the Mali and N’mai rivers and the source of the Irawaddy River (Ayeyawady River). As of 2017^[update] the project is suspended, but China has been lobbying for its revival.

Had the dam been completed according to plans in 2017 it would have been the fifteenth largest hydroelectric power station in the world. The dam, planned to be 1,310 metres (4,300 ft) long and 139.6 metres (458 ft) high, was to be built by the Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower Company. The company is a joint venture of the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), the Burmese Government's Ministry of Electric Power, and the Asia World Company. The dam was planned to have a generation capacity of 6,000 megawatts and to produce electricity primarily for export to Yunnan, China. CPI contended that China would not be the electricity's primary market and stated that Myanmar would have first claim on the electricity generated, with the remainder or surplus sold for export. Opponents remained skeptical because most Burmese are not connected to the electrical grid, and doubted whether the dam would improve their livelihood.

The dam project has been controversial in Burma due to its enormous flooded area, environmental impacts, location 60 miles from the Sagaing faultline, and uneven share of electricity output between the two countries. The Burmese public regards the Irrawaddy River as the birthplace of Burmese civilization. Although access to the Chinese market guarantees the dam's electricity sales, for many Burmese the Myitsone Dam represents growing Chinese influence in Burma which they perceive as "exploitative" to the country hitherto isolated by Western economic sanctions. Even government officials have differing opinions on the project.

On 30 September 2011, amid democratic reforms in the country, President Thein Sein announced that the Myitsone Dam project was to be suspended during his tenure. Because the government appeared to have taken public opinion into account, the unexpected decision was seen as a reversal of the authoritarian rule since the coup in 1962.

The dam site is 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) below the confluence of the Mali River and the N'Mai River about 42 km (26 mi) north of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, in northern Burma. The source of both the N'mai and Mali rivers is the Himalaya glaciers of northern Burma in the vicinity of 28° N. The easternmost of the two, N'mai river, is the larger stream and rises in the Languela Glacier north of Putao. It is not navigable due to its strong current, whereas the smaller western river, the Mali, is navigable, despite a few rapids.

The project site is in the politically unstable Kachin State. Since 1962, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has been waging war against Burmese military. Despite a ceasefire in 1994, clashes and bomb explosions occasionally occur near the dam site. In 2011, clashes between Burmese military and KIA intensified and the Burmese military ordered airstrikes in northern Kachin State.

The Myitsone Dam is part of the Confluence Region Hydropower Project (CRHP), which includes seven dams with a total installed capacity of 20,000 MW. CRHP alone accounts for 41% of the total power capacity called for by a 30-year strategic plan. Outlined in 2001, the plan includes 64 hydropower plants and three coal power plants with combined installed capacity of more than 40,000 megawatts (54,000,000 hp).

The Myanmar Electrical Power Enterprise and the Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry scheduled the Irawaddy Myitsone Dam Multipurpose Water Utilization Project in 2001. The survey phase was initiated in 2003. First the government contracted the Japanese Kansai Electric Power Company to build a small weather station at Tang Hpre village, near the confluence. Chinese and Burmese contractors, including Yunnan Machinery Equipment Import & Export Company (YMEC), Kunming Hydropower Institute of Design, surveyed the dam site. In 2006, Suntac Technologies Co. Ltd., a Burmese geographic information system (GIS) mapping contractor set up an office at the monastery in Tang Hpre village. They also set up a temporary camp at Washawng village to facilitate transport of survey equipment from the YMEC company in China. In October, the Asia World Company built a project implementation camp on a hilltop at the dam site 3 miles (4.8 km) downstream from the confluence. When the camp was complete, Chinese technicians stayed and surveyed the area for five months. In December 2006, the Ministry of Electric Power No. 1 and the China Power Investment Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a 6,000 megawatts (8,000,000 hp) project at Myitsone and a 3,400 megawatts (4,600,000 hp) project at Chibwe.