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According to William Duma, Minister of Public Enterprises and State Investment, Papua New Guinea is under-explored in terms of geothermal energy development.
Duma was speaking at the signing of a geothermal deed of agreement between the state and Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), an Australian company.
“Comparatively, Papua New Guinea is under-explored,” he said.
“If a geothermal location is to be determined to be viable for commercialisation, then, of course, Fortescue will apply for all the necessary licenses required for each province in accordance with the applicable legislation which the company is aware of.”
According to Duma, Fortescue Future Industries has discovered geothermal resources in numerous places around the country, with the potential to generate up to 10 gigawatts of power.
West New Britain, he said, had a caldera (Mt Talawe) in Talasea; Milne Bay, with areas of interest on Fergusson, Goodenough, and Normanby islands; Northern, with Mt Lamington; Madang, with resources on Karkar, Long, and Manam islands; East Sepik, with the islands of Bam, Blup Blup, and Kairiru; and Morobe, with parts of Bulolo and Wau, the McAdam National Park and the islands of Siassi and Umboi. Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCHL) signed the agreement with FFI on behalf of the State.
According to KCHL managing director Isikeli Taureka, the deal with Fortescue was to look at areas of interest in the country.
Fortescue would next go out and perform more research to determine the capability of the geothermal sites that had been found, he added.
Following the confirmation of viable sites, Taureka said the developer and the state would sign a project agreement outlining what each party would undertake to develop the resource and the advantages to stakeholders.
He said that geothermal locations might be used to generate electricity, which would lead to more development such as roads and other infrastructure.
“Our side is to make sure that all the Government laws and permits are complied with.”
Reference: Mauludu, Shirley. The National (12 August 2021). “Focus on geothermal energy”.
