Lighting
up 70 percent of PNG households by 2030 is challenging, but achievable
World Bank/Asian Development Bank
Deliberations last Thursday at the stakeholder’s consultation workshop on the guiding
principles for the Papua New Guinea national plan (NEROP) to electrify 70
percent of households by 2030, and consultations on the electricity industry
‘rules of engagement, under the Third Party Access Code and the Grid Code,
ended on a positive note that these can be achieved.
The
Third Party Access Code provides the terms and rules for private generators to
connect to Power PNG Limited (PPL) transmission systems and sell power to PPL
and other customers. The Grid Code specifies a set of technical rules that will
govern the connection to, use and operation of the country’s transmission
system, and sets performance and safety standards for transmission equipment
and operation.
Participants
at the consultation workshop unanimously acknowledged that PNG has broad and
diverse energy options that if harnessed through the right approach and
attitude, and with the right cost and investment structures in place, the goal
to light up rural and remote parts of the country that had been in in dark for
so long is possible.
Papua
New Guinea Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, when opening the consultation
workshop on the National Electrification Rollout Plan (NEROP) Wednesday,
admitted that the country had done very well on the energy sector in the last
40 years, but said it is time to turn things around.
The
Government reiterated the importance of encouraging the participation of the
private sector in delivering the vitally needed investments to deliver a
reliable and high-quality electricity supply to all in PNG.
The
workshop’s keynote speaker was Eddy Njoroge, a former Managing Director and CEO
of Kenya Electricity Generating Company who oversaw key developments that now
result in Kenya providing electricity connectivity from 8 percent in 2003 to 26
percent of its households in less than 10 years.
Sixty
percent of households in Kenya have access to electricity, and the country is
working to achieve a 100% electricity access rate by 2020.
The
attendees and relevant sector institutions present generally voiced strong
support on the way forward in respect of the proposed organizing principles
to guide the preparation of the NEROP; as well as the
proposed scope and detailed design of NEROP’s operational pillars required for
implementation.
The attendees also welcomed the introduction of the Third Party
Access Code and the Grid Code, which encourage private sector investment in the
industry by setting out the rules for connecting to and use of the power grid
by new generators and which, together, will bring about greater clarity and
transparency for investment decisions by private sector participants and for
third parties other than PPL wishing to supply customers.
Several
other presentations were made on areas of interest and the kinds of options
that can be considered for successfully rolling out the NEROP, including the
options for sustainable financing lessons learnt from the 20 year experience of
the State Government of Queensland.
Development
partners, including the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
are providing support to Government in the areas of policy development,
capacity building, and improvement of the necessary generation and transmission
infrastructure.
World
Bank Director for Sustainable Energy, Vijay Iyer highlighted the importance for
the Papua New Guinea people and government to own and drive the program
together, adding that development partners like the World Bank Group and ADB
stand ready to support national efforts.
Mr.
Iyer congratulated the PNG Government for putting in place important policies
for energy development and for strongly supporting electricity issues which
will have huge development and economic impacts in the areas of education and
health, especially for women and children.
He
said there is strong evidence to show countries that moved up the energy ladder
have improved outcomes in living standards.
ADB
Country Director for Papua New Guinea Marcelo Minc said the active
participation of attendees at the workshop reflected the high profile the
energy sector has in the development of Papua New Guinea’s economy.
“As
ADB’s activities in Papua New Guinea scale up, we look forward to expanding our
support to the energy sector in close coordination with our development
partners,” said Mr Minc.
Mr
Minc also highlighted the importance of government ownership of NEROP which
will deliver affordable, reliable energy to the people of Papua New Guinea.
A
communique summarising workshop discussions and outline a timeline for
immediate next steps for implementing the NEROP, the Third Party Access Code
and the Grid Code was released at the end of the three days consultation. It
captures discussions and feedback from participants representing PNG’s national
and provincial governments, civil society groups, development organizations,
private sector, and the industry on key areas for the development and
implementation of guiding principles for the NEROP.
