Photo Credit: Papua New Guinea Today
For the expansion of the Tari to Hides high voltage transmission line, PNG Power Limited has inked a K71 million deal with Chinese Tibean Electrical Company.
The 132 kV transmission line will be extended from Mt Hagen to Tari and from Tari to Hides, according to PPL acting chief executive officer Obed Batia.
He claimed that this will boost consumers while also providing power to the country's remote villages.
The government allowed the Tari to Hides link to be included in the scope of Phase 2 of the National Power Grid Development Project, according to State Enterprise Minister William Duma.
PPL will build this critical transmission line and substations, according to Tibean Electrical Group Limited.
“The scope of the extension includes 40km of a three-phased single circuit 132kV transmission line of 6.6 per 132kV step up sub-station at the Hides plant and 132kV extension bars and laundry gantry at Tari sub-station.”
He said that the project's scope and cost include land access, tower base payments, and compensation for upgrades, totalling K71 million including contingencies.
“The Tari to Hides link is critical to enable dispatch of the proposed Hela Power gas-fired plant into the grid and reliably distributed to customers optimising the use of the upgraded transmission infrastructure and making the project economically viable in the medium term.
TBEA will subsequently construct the critical missing link transmission infrastructure between Tari and Hides following the signing, according to Duma.
According to Prime Minister James Marape, this is a government-funded initiative to build a supernational grid system that will extend from the Highlands to the Mamose, as part of a national goal to ensure that 70% of homes have access to dependable and cheaper electricity by 2030.
Reference:
Kamus, Maxine. Post-Courier (16 July 2021). “PPL Signs K71 Million Tari-Hides Power Deal”.
