Sonk commends commissioning of NiuPower gas plant

The National Business
NiuPower transmission lines outside Port Moresby with the generation plant in the background. – Picture supplied

KUMUL Petroleum Holdings Ltd (KPHL) says the successful commissioning of the Gerehu to NiuPower Gas Plant transmission line project and the Gerehu substation is an achievement for its shareholders.
Managing director Wapu Sonk made the statement when congratulating NiuPower and PNG Power Ltd (PPL) for the achievement.
KPHL is the parent company of NiuPower.
Sonk said it was a significant milestone achievement for the shareholders, particularly the national oil and gas company in the short history of its existence.
“I would like to congratulate NiuPower and PPL for working together with the contractor, Voltran for commissioning the power lines and substation at Gerehu and the NiuPower power plant in such a short time, enabling the production and supplying the full 58 megawatts of power into the Port Moresby city grid,” he said.
“This power project is first for Kumul Petroleum and it gives satisfaction to the shareholders (Oil Search and Kumul Petroleum) of this achievement.
“The process in getting here has been tough but we are here and hopefully PNG Power will save costs through the low cost fuel replacement as well as reliability and our hope is that PNG Power can pass on the cost savings to the customers.”
The power project is sized at 58 megawatts but the design is such that additional generation units can be installed to cater for the expected electricity demand growth in the National Capital District and surrounding areas of Central
Sonk highlighted that with the creation of NiuPower and development of the gas-fired Port Moresby power station, Kumul Petroleum and Oil Search directly contribute to the Government’s energy objectives of electrifying 70 per cent of PNG by 2030 – today, estimated at around 13 per cent.
“This hopefully is achieved through the cost savings by PPL, which they can use to expand the distribution and connection to more customers outside of Port Moresby and into other parts of the country.”
KPHL is the country’s national oil and gas company.
It is responsible for managing the state’s 16.57 per cent equity in the US$19 billion (K64.73bil) PNG LNG project.
From 2014 to 2018, KPHL remitted K4.2 billion to the State – more than 80 per cent of the K5 billion revenue.
In the same period, 470 shipments of LNG were exported.