Feature
In Myanmar, Pact advances clean energy to build lasting economic opportunity
Myanmar’s unreliable power grid poses a significant challenge for businesses across the country. ECterra Agriculture Company, which produces sugarcane, was one of them.
ECterra's fields require 15 hours of irrigation per day at certain times, but Myanmar’s national grid only provided two hours of electricity. As the grid continued to fail the company, its costs skyrocketed.
“If we can’t provide water during the summer, the sugarcane won’t grow well. The economics just don’t work,” says Ko Tun Tun, an agronomist with ECterra.
Then the company connected with Pact’s Smart Power Myanmar program, which helped ECterra obtain a $30,000 loan guarantee to unlock the financing it needed to gain solar power. With solar, they now save $2,000 every month – meaning a quick cost recovery and a sustainable future.
This is the power of catalytic finance, a key focus for Smart Power Myanmar (SPM). Established in 2018 to end energy poverty in Myanmar, SPM helps local businesses to obtain solar power by guiding them through the entire solar journey, from loan application to system installation.
Once a business expresses interest, SPM and its bank partners conduct a technical and financial assessment. SPM then designs the solar system while bank partners offer affordable loans based on the project cost. Finally, SPM helps businesses procure the best solar company and equipment and provides quality control during installation.
Besides gaining reliable, clean energy, businesses save money on power for decades to come. The result, ultimately, is greater economic opportunities for a country where poverty persists and employment can be scarce. SPM focuses specifically on advancing the productive use of clean energy.
For ECterra, going solar has meant that its sugarcane is growing faster and higher, and it is providing much-needed jobs to more community members.
“Now that we have solar, one thing is certain,” Ko Tun Tun says. “Yields will be high, this area will stay lush and green, and the surrounding villages will develop and prosper.”
SPM is implemented by Pact with funding and support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), a coalition that is spearheaded by The Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund, and investment and upstream partners.
An important focus of SPM is de-risking clean energy investments to get capital flowing, says Pact’s Min Chan Win, who is SPM’s managing director.
“We have shown that it can be done, even in challenging markets like Myanmar,” he says.
Small and medium-sized businesses across the country are ready for solar but often face a difficult choice because of the unreliable national power grid: burn diesel or shut down. And banks want to lend for solar, but often need support to get to “yes.”
SPM clears roadblocks by providing financial guarantees, training, and tools to get deals moving. Financial guarantees are commitments from SPM that ensure the bank gets repaid if the borrower defaults. They reduce the bank’s risk and, crucially, unlock loans for borrowers with limited collateral.
“We’re unlocking up to 10 times leverage on every dollar of guarantee capital,” Min Chan Win says. “We’re approaching a tipping point in clean energy—give banks and SMEs the right support, and momentum will carry it forward at scale.”
So far, SPM has mobilized $34 million in financing, enabled more than 70,000 last-mile on-grid and off-grid connections, and impacted more than 370,000 people with increased livelihoods opportunities. The program has reached 12 megawatts of installed power for more than 200 businesses just since 2023.
Going solar with SPM’s support changed everything for PVF Furniture Factory. Power outages were wreaking havoc on the company’s operations just as it began to grow. With SPM’s know-how and guidance, the business installed a solar system. Now it is cutting, drilling, and welding without waste, all while reducing its energy costs by 50%.
“Now we have reliable solar electricity and smooth production,” says Myo Myint Thein, PVF’s administrative director.
The same is true for Triple Three, which produces 1 million woven bags per month in Myanmar. The company was desperate for reliable electricity but struggled with how to obtain solar until SPM came in, providing a financial guarantee that made a loan possible.
Now, instead of burning diesel, the business boasts a quality solar power system that has translated into a 54% reduction in energy costs. Triple Three expects to recover what it spent on the system in less than two years.
“Both our electric bill and diesel costs have been reduced,” says U Kyaw Soe Tun, Triple Three’s owner. “Now we can compete with others in the market.”