Govt plans to extend reach of electricity

THE Government plans to provide electricity to 70 per cent of the people by 2030, an official says.
Acting deputy secretary of the Department of Petroleum and Energy Vore Veve said electricity supply was a key aspects of development.
“That’s why the Department of Petroleum and Energy is driving certain important policy reforms with support from key stakeholders and partners in the electricity industry to create enabling policy and legal environment to achieve that vision,” he said.
Veve said the department would soon be separated into two different entities – Petroleum and Energy – from next year.
“The petroleum sector will have their own authority to manage their affairs. The energy sector will have its own authority to manage and regulate the sector and industries in the country,” he said.
Veve said a study on a national electrification roll-out plan had been conducted by the department and PNG Power Limited.
He said the plan not only looked at connecting everyone to the PNG Power grid but also provided electricity to some of the remotest areas of the country through cost-effective and renewable sources of energy such as solar power.