PNG Starts Gas-Fired Power Plant

Papua New Guinea’s first-ever dedicated grid-connected gas-fired power plant, Port Moresby power plant, was inaugurated on December 6 by country’s prime minister James Marape, Australian engineering firm Clough said on January 28 in a statement.

The project has been developed by NiuPower, a partnership between Oil Search and Kumul Petroleum Holdings. Clough, in consortium with Wartsila, was responsible for the project's engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC).

The power station uses natural gas supplied by the PNG LNG project to feed six gas engines and generators. It has the capacity to produce 58 MW of base-load power to the Port Moresby power grid through a new power line and substation network, Clough said.

NiuPower last year signed a long-term power purchase agreement with state-owned PNG Power. NiuPower was established in 2017 to facilitate joint participation between Oil Search and PNG state-owned Kumul Petroleum Holdings to focus on domestic power production. The Port Moresby power project is NiuPower’s initial investment at a cost of $100mn. Using locally produced gas instead of imported heavy fuel oil and diesel, it will reduce the environmental impact of power generation.