SOLAR ASSOC. TELLS GOV’T FOCUS ON GREEN ENERGY

ADB, Australia, PNG partner to boost access to clean, reliable, affordable power

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a $305 million project which will support the strengthening and expansion of electricity in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The Power Sector Development Project is supported by loans and grants from ADB and the governments of Australia and PNG and will target five subprojects within the main power grids of the country’s power utility, PNG Power Limited (PPL).

ADB provided two loans amounting to $208.6 million, the Government of Australia contributed a $59.5 million loan and a $12.8 million grant, and the Government of PNG with PPL will yield $24.1 million.

“PNG has one of the lowest rates of electricity access in the Pacific, with only 13% of households having access,” said Director of ADB Pacific Department’s Energy Division Mukhtor Khamudkhanov.

“The project will contribute to the government’s objective of connecting 70% of its population to electricity by 2030 and will help advance reforms in the power sector.”

The project will expand and upgrade transmission lines and substations in Gazelle, Ramu, and Port Moresby; build new low- and medium-voltage power distribution lines in Gazelle, Ramu, and Port Moresby, and mini grids in West New Britain; and strengthen the capacity of PPL through the introduction of procurement and implementation, utility operation, and financial management reforms.

The limited electricity access in PNG stifles economic growth and exacerbates poverty and inequality in both urban and rural areas.

COVID-19 has also impacted the local economy, and quality infrastructure is a central component of the government’s post-pandemic economic recovery strategy.

The stable power grids proposed under the project will help maintain urban health facilities’ basic operations and are critical to reducing COVID-19 risks.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

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crative finished products.

He has invited more Chinese investment and said work was ongoing on a trade deal.

“China and Papua New Guinea officials are going through tidying Chinese-PNG free-trade arrangements,” Marape told journalists.

“The specifics of the free-trade arrangement are being finalized as we go through, so that Papua New Guinea interests are not suppressed or harmed, but maintained and in fact augmented,” he said.

His comments come as China, Australia, and other Western allies race for influence across the Pacific Islands.

The vast but sparsely populated region is home to vital shipping channels and -- because of its location near areas where the Chinese and US militaries operate -- seen as strategically important.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has crisscrossed the South Pacific for more than a week, pressing the case for a greater role by Beijing in regional security.

But his visit to Port Moresby has been overshadowed by complaints that it comes too close to Papua New Guinea’s elections, which will be held in the coming weeks, with