Local conglomerate JJ-Pun, in partnership with First Myanmar Investment Co Ltd (FMI) and Philips Lighting, said it plans to install solar-powered solutions in off-grid areas in upper Myanmar.
The comapnies will install Myanmar’s first solar-powered LED “Community Light Centres” (CLC’s) in Ngar Zinyine village in the Tada-U township in Mandalay, according to a statement.
CLCs are areas of approximately 1,000 square metres, the size of a small soccer pitch, illuminated using a new generation of highly efficient solar powered LED lighting.
The construction of the CLC is scheduled to be completed during October, JJ-Pun said.
“JJ-Pun and its partners undertake this initiative with dual aims of improving quality of life for people living off the electricity grid and to demonstrate the possibilities of sustainable development in rural areas of Myanmar,” said the company, which was set up as a joint venture between Jebsen & Jessen (Southeast Asia) and Serge Pun & Associates in 2011.
Philipp Hoffmann, managing director, JJ-Pun, said, “Bringing light to the vast amounts of people in Myanmar currently living off the electricity grid will act as an enabler for both social and economic development within these communities.”
Touting the program as a sustainable means to deliver power, Hoffman said the project will play a significant role in Myanmar’s modernisation.
During the past year JJ-Pun’s Dutch partner, Philips Lighting, has carried out CLC projects across Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, and is expected to set up 100 such centres by the end of 2015.
