Work on a K4 million solar project to cover all wards in the Duke of York Islands local level government (LLG), Kokopo, East New Britain (ENB), is set to start in June.
This was announced by Francis Uratun, director of PNG Power Ltd (PPL), who recently travelled to the Duke of York Islands to finalize project documents for submission to AusAid.
AusAid will fund the project.
Uratun said, “This will be the first solar power project to be rolled out by PPL under its rural electrification programme. The project is an initiative of Kokopo MP Emil Tammur who has been negotiating with PPL for the past 18 months. The negotiation for the project between Tammur, PPL and AusAid has been a long process and this trip to the islands will complete the final process, including gauging the views of the communities, especially women and youths. The PPL team is expected to submit a detailed and final proposal to AustAid this month before funding can be made available. The project proposal is to set up four solar farms in various locations on the island to supply 50 kilowatts of power.”
