"The tender, issued by the ministry’s Electric Power Generation Enterprise (EPGE) on May 18, invites companies to bid for the construction of 30 ground-mounted solar plants capable of generating 1060MW of power in total under a 20-year build, operate and own basis. That’s about one third of the total dry-season generation capacity of Myanmar. The proposed solar sites are in Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magwe, Mandalay, Sagaing, Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon’s Shwepyithar township. The announcement comes after the government released its COVID-19 economic relief plan in late April. The plan includes expediting “solicitation of renewable energy projects after monitoring cost developments to assess the quality of available deals” before the end of 2020. But European and US business groups say the one-month deadline is too tight to meet given the COVID-19 travel restrictions as well as time needed for land documentation. Myanmar has banned international flights until June 1, imposed strict facility quarantine measures for business travellers and may extend the flight ban by decree. So, prospective developers cannot visit the country, make investment decisions or inspect the sites before bidding. The deadline is difficult to achieve particularly because of the land acquisition requirement, commented Nishant Choudhary, a Yangon-based partner at law firm DFDL. Even for developers established in Myanmar, the schedule “poses a great challenge” to complete the preparation of bid, valuation, land documentation and other necessary work, “particularly in the backdrop of COVID situation, where most of the international players have temporarily relocated from Myanmar to their home country. Also, those interested cannot fly into Myanmar,” he said. According to a draft letter to the government seen by The Myanmar Times, the business groups are planning to ask for the deadline to be extended by at least two to three months..."