Shweli (1) is a 600 MW hydro power station in Yunnan, Myanmar. It is operated by Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power [20%]; Yunnan United Power Development Co Ltd. Based on reported annual generation of 4,022 GWh, it can supply roughly 1.1 million homes. It ranks #15 of 69 Myanmar power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2008, it is around 18 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 46.1% of Myanmar's electricity; the national grid averages 503 gCO₂/kWh (47.9% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1061367.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 600 MW, Shweli (1) is well above the median hydro plant in Myanmar (60 MW). Technically it is described as conventional storage. Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power [20%]; Yunnan United Power Development Co Ltd.
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate (Köppen Cwa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 23.7°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 76% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 22/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #2 largest hydro power plant of 20 in Myanmar by capacity.
Myanmar has 20 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 2,725 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 23.7, 97.507 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Shweli (1) is a 600 MW source-record hydro power plant in Yunnan, Myanmar, commissioned in 2008.
Shweli (1) generates about 4,022 GWh of electricity per year.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,149,142 homes.
Shweli (1) is operated by Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power [20%]; Yunnan United Power Development Co Ltd.
