With electrification rates around 29%, among the lowest in the region and 45 million people in Myanmar living without power, APR Energy, one of the global leaders in power supplies, has gone live on a power plant in upper Myanmar, becoming the first US company to sign a power generation agreement with the Myanmar government.

APR Energy PLC won the contract, through an open tender conducted by Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power, to build a 100-megawatt power plant in Myanmar, likely one of the largest investments in the country by a U.S. company since sanctions against the country were lifted.

The plant, in the central Mandalay region, will supply power to more than six million people, tapping Myanmar’s large reserves of national gas via the Shwe gas pipeline. The 1,200-kilometer overland pipeline is a key Chinese undertaking in the country, seen as a strategically important source of energy that will allow China to reduce its reliance on the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest oil- transit routes, separating oil producers in the Middle East from oil consumers in North Asia for its energy needs.

In the APR Energy news release, the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, said doing business in an emerging market “does not come without its challenges, including the need to implement economic reform policies, address infrastructure challenges and benefit from the country’s economic potential.”

The company said that it will contribute to the economic and social progress of Myanmar by increasing job opportunities for local people and supporting the community through development programs.