MP: Identify energy sources

 THE forecast for energy requirements indicate that Papua New Guinea will be struggling to meet its energy demand in the short to medium term, Pomio MP Paul Tiensten said.

It means more sources of energy must be identified.

“The future prosperity and success of PNG as a nation will depend on how best it pursues its energy development over the medium to long-term periods,” he said. 

Tiensten said PNG had four sources of energy – gas, hydro, geothermal and diesel. 

“Due to the demands in the infrastructure developments and the growing population, energy is one main component that is currently lacking capacity and badly needs to be upgraded and rehabilitated to meet current and future demands,” he said. 

Tiensten said that PNG had 503 megawatts of electricity generation capacity, about half of which was provided by the private sector, 

particularly for mining. 

PNG’s primary source of energy is from hydro schemes providing just under half of all electricity generation capacity. About one-third of electricity capacity is provided by diesel generators. 

Gas and geothermal generation represent most of the balance with the bulk of this energy used for mining. Diesel is dominant in off-grid applications. 

The average daily peak load demand for electricity is estimated 

at 290MW. 

Tiensten said there was considerable potential for hydro schemes, including the Purari River in Gulf province, Brown River and Vanapa River catchment in Central, Gumini hydro potential in Milne Bay and Kimadan in New 

Ireland.

Mining Minster Byron Chan has highlighted that the geothermal policy was an initiative by the O’Neill government for his ministry to undertake until 2015.