Gas giving PNG new options for electricity

THE domestic use of gas from the LNG projects to expand electrification is a key objective of Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited, says managing director Wapu Sonk.
He said studies had shown that more electrification was directly proportional to greater Gross Domestic Product growth over the years. It is something that KPHL wants to replicate for PNG.
He said the generation of electricity would also support the growth of industries and would have a multiplier effect in terms of benefits to the people and the economy.
Only about 15 per cent of the population can access electricity and it is the Government’s goal to have
100 per cent access by 2030, Sonk said.
“While the oil and gas industry is not responsible for building poles and wires and hooking up houses to electricity, we believe that reserving some of the gas production for electricity will allow enough clean and cheap power to be generated to meet this demand,” Sonk said.
“This will also have the added benefit of ensuring that our people can directly benefit from the project and the positive impacts for this are far reaching in terms of the development of our country.”
Niu Power, a joint venture between KPHL and Oil Search, is the start of this undertaking with the construction of the facility to be completed by 2019.