Myanmar residents seek light in dark times four years after military coup

A vendor sells food to a customer from her stall during an electricity blackout in Yangon on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Yangon resident Aung Ko Gyi browses stalls for a solar power kit he can use to weather the blackouts that have become a constant feature of life in Myanmar four years on from a military coup.

“I need power supply to use in night, to use computer for my business, and to use for Internet connection,” the 64-year-old said at the country’s biggest annual solar exhibition.

Power outages are common in his township, a result of rolling blackouts scheduled by the junta government as it battles for control of areas seized by rebel groups.

Aung Bo Bo, another Yangon resident, bemoaned the power cut timetable that can see houses plunged into darkness 12 hours a day.

He has to wake up at midnight to cook and pump water when the electricity comes on, he said.

“We’re getting no sleep,” he said.

Myanmar is mired in a civil war that has killed thousands, triggered when the military ousted the elected civilian government of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi four years ago from Saturday.

The Southeast Asian nation has oil, gas, and coal reserves as well as strong hydroelectric and solar potential, but is crippled by political instability, investor flight, poor policy, and a lack of infrastructure.

The junta has blamed the worsening outages on rising gas prices and attacks on infrastructure by anti-coup fighters.

Around a third of firms surveyed by the World Bank in April last year reported power outages as their primary challenge, up from 12% in September 2023. Only 48% of the population had access to electricity in late 2024, according to the UN — the lowest rate in Asia.

And the crisis is having a major impact on both the economy and civilians’ well-being.

The uncertain outlook has seen a surge in the use of alternative energy sources, particularly solar energy — much of which comes from Myanmar’s northern neighbour, China, the world’s top producer of the renewable energy.