Make use of hydropower or it will go to waste, summit told

THE potential of hydropower in Papua New Guinea must not be forgotten, says Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (Smec).
Smec manager hydropower and dams, Tilak Bhattarai, told the PNG Petroleum and Energy Summit in Port Moresby on Wednesday that hydropower was wasted energy when not utilised.
“If we are talking about generating 20,000-plus megawatts in this country, how can we utilise these resources for PNG’s economic development?” he said.
“This country is endowed with lots of mountains and rivers, with high rainfall.
“It is a beautiful country, in the sense that we can have hydro power anywhere in the mountainous regions.
“I am particularly concerned that wasted energy is not used, like LNG.
“If you do not produce power from LNG, you can sell it, turn it to revenue or you can use it on household gas and all these things.
“For hydro power, if you do not develop, it is just wasted energy.
“Just going back to the facts, in 1994, we had 20,000 megawatts of hydropower potential.
“I am sure that this number has doubled since.
“PNG is one of the countries in the world that has the highest per capita hydro potential.”