Energy mix, diversification seen as critical for development

National

ENERGY mix and diversification are very critical for the development of Papua New Guinea, says Mayur Resources managing director Paul Mulder.
Mulder, whose company is pushing for a coal power plant in Lae, said the country could not continue to depend on only a few sources of energy.
Mulder, during the 2019 PNG Petroleum and Energy Summit in Port Moresby yesterday, said it was now time for PNG to benefit from cheap energy like the rest of the world.
He said most people in PNG were not connected to electricity even though the country had huge reserves of resources such as coal.
Mulder said this could be harnessed through environment-friendly approaches to produce very reliable and affordable electricity.
“The country needs energy mix and diversification because at the moment, despite the country having abundance of fast-flowing rivers and oil and gas resources, PNG’s current energy mix has 40 per cent reliance on liquid fuels,” he said.
“Heavy fuel oil and diesel are linked to volatility of global energy prices and drain foreign reserves out of PNG.”
Mulder said most economies in the Asia-Pacific were currently riding on coal as the main
source of energy to grow their economy and their gross domestic product.
According to statistics, coal supplied:

  • 64 per cent of total energy produced in Australia
  • 44 per cent in Malaysia;
  • 33 per cent in Vietnam;
  • 22 per cent in Thailand; and,
  • 55 per cent in Indonesia.