PNG Power informs all its valued Electricity Consumers and the general public that it will be conducting a house to house Meter Survey to check on all forms of illegal connections or stealing of power nationwide. This will begin in Port Moresby and move into other centres starting this month. According to the Electricity Industry Act 2000, Illegal Connection or Diversion of energy by Consumers in order to use free power is a CRIME and you can be criminally prosecuted in a Court of Law. A Penalty not exceeding three (3) years will be served if you are proven guilty in a Court of Law.
In light of the heightened risk of the Corona Virus (COVID -19), PNG Power has initiated its Business Continuity Plans to ensure the supply of Power is maintained throughout any emergency period. PNG Power is currently engaging with all its suppliers and agents to ensure supply of critical products and services such as fuel, Independent power generation units, Easipay, are not affected during an emergency period. Engagements with other Government agencies such as police will also take place to ensure co-ordination of responses in such a scenario is established and enabled.
PNG Power Management led by Acting Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Mageo and Board Chairman, Peter Nupiri met with Port Moresby General Hospital CEO, Dr. Paki Molumi to iron out power quality issues, following a social media (Facebook) complaint by a prominent doctor who works at hospital. According to the Social Media post (FB), the Doctor raised the issue that the recent unplanned power outages and load shedding of power supply in Port Moresby caused medical equipment failure in their laboratories/wards and has affected their duties. During the meeting, discussions concluded that the power quality issues faced by Port Moresby General Hospital was previously identified by PNG Power. A recommendation was made to the then hospital CEO and management to come up with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), so that PNG Power can install a power-factor equipment that was already sourced and has been awaiting installation since 2013.
PNG Power continues to conduct load shedding in parts of Port Moresby and the upper highlands area due to several causes.Load shedding is currently being carried out in Port Moresby as work is underway to repair aging equipment at the Boroko Sub-station. The recent introduction of the NiuPower gas plant power supply to the Port Moresby grid has led to the load shedding exercise due to lack of compensating reactive power to meet the demand. However, negotiations with NiuPower to adjust their generator settings have seen a reduction in load shedding from two feeders to one per day. Further arrangements will be made to rectify the issue.
The Gerehu to NiuPower Gas Plant Transmission Lines project was completed on Saturday and successfully energized in the early hours of Sunday (today). On Saturday, PNG Power and its contractor, Voltran Engineering began work on the final hook-up and connection into the NiuPower yard, which was the final task of the transmission lines construction. PNG Power technical teams have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure all necessary electromechanical requirements were met for the final connection phase of the transmission lines between the Moitaka Substation, the Kanudi Substation and the NiuPower Gas Plant.
The Gerehu to NiuPower Gas Plant Transmission Line project is set to be completed tomorrow (Friday) afternoon and energised on Saturday for pre-commissionning tests to be carried out. Today (Thursday), PNG Power and its contractor, Voltran Engineering are completing final interconnection works to the Moitaka to Kanudi Transmission lines at Kasio Circle. Tomorrow (Friday), the team heads down to the NiuPower Gas Plant to carry out final hook-up onto the NiuPower yard, which will be the final task of the transmission lines construction.
PNG Power’s Rouna 3 Hydropower Station is back in full generation capacity after successfully restoring its unit 2 machine. In December, 2019, PNG Power’s Operations and Maintenance Mechanical Team from Rouna carried out its first successful load test and was given the approval to put back online. With Unit 2 now back in operation, the Rouna 3 Hydropower Station is generating to its full capacity of 10 Megawatts (MW). Unit 2 was out of operation since January 2019, due to a system failure and power surge, causing its stator windings to fail resulting in the shutting down of the whole unit.
PNG Power will not be conducting any planned load shedding during the festive season around the country. We will also endeavour to quickly restore power supply if there will be any unplanned outages caused by accidents or severe weather conditions. PNG Power loses money by generating power using diesel, so when our biggest customer does not pay on time, we cannot pay our own suppliers like Puma. We have now normalized our payment terms with Puma and fuel will be supplied during this festive season.
This morning Prime Minister, Hon. James Marape together with Oil Search Managing Director, Peter Botten and Kumul Petroleum Holdings Managing Director, Wapu Sonk officially cut the ribbon to mark the launch of the NiuPower Gas Planti just outside of Port Moresby. On hand to witness the occasion this morning at the NiuPower Gas Plant was Minister for Public Enterprise, Sasindran Muthuvel, National Planning Minister, Sam Basil, Commerce Minister, William Duma, PNG Power Acting CEO, Douglas Mageo, Kumul Consolidated Holdings Representative, Parkop Kurua and Hela Governor, Philip Undialu. NiuPower is generating 10 Megawatts (MW) currently into the Port Moresby Grid. Once PNG Power and it's contract completes the Gerehu to LNG site Transmission line by January 2020, NiuPower will be able to export its maximum 58 MW of power into the Port Moresby Grid.
PNG Power with the support of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and donors Australia and New Zealand, has officially launched the first ever trial of rooftop solar power in Papua New Guinea. The move marks a significant change in policy. Until now, it was illegal for Papua New Guinean businesses to install and generate power from roof top solar panels.
