K209mil power project for Lae

By GLORIA BAUAI
THE K209 million Ramu transmission line project underway will secure power supply into Lae, says PNG Power Limited (PPL) chief executive officer Obed Batia.
Batia said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) funded project had allowed for a second transmission line, running from Yonki Dam to Lae to reinforce the Ramu grid.
He said the intention with having two circuits to the grid was for redundancy. “As you go up the highway, you’ll see the 132kV lines.”
“This second line will give us redundancy, so in the event where one line goes out, we will still be able to use another line; the main target beneficiaries are customers in Lae.”
Batia said the project was made possible through concessional funding from Jica and the PNG Government.
He added that in the Ramu system under the Power Sector Development Project (PDP) with the Government, Asian Development Bank and Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, PPL would run another line from the Taraka sub-station to Malahang to cater for the industries there.
Batia said the Government had signed power electrification agreement with Australia, the United States, Japan and New Zealand to support PPL with grid intensification and expansion and household connectivity electrification projects.
He said in the Ramu grid a line connecting to Tari and further extending to the Hides gas project area was being constructed where the second phase would be from Mt Hagen in Western Highlands to Yonki in Eastern Highlands.
“These opportunities were never there before so we’re trying to make it happen now to ensure reliability and consistency,” he said.
“We’ll also have a second line from Hides in Tari (in Hela) all the way into Lae.”
The focus on the PDP is on the three main grids (Port Moresby, Ramu and Gazelle) and is expected to increased households connections by 100,000 per annum to meet the 70 per cent electrification target of 2030. PPL has 17 mini-grid networks, mostly by diesel generation, 900km of high voltage power lines and 2,589km of distribution lines in the country.