Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has emphasised his government’s strong commitment to restoring and expanding Papua New Guinea’s electricity sector, acknowledging both recent progress and the significant work that remains to ensure reliable power supply nationwide.
The Prime Minister said the commissioning of 20 megawatts of standby generation capacity, recently launched by Acting Prime Minister Hon. John Rosso, together with Minister for State Enterprises Hon. William Duma and relevant authorities, represents another important step in addressing long-standing challenges in the power sector.
“When we came into government in 2019, we inherited a power system built largely in the 1960s and 1970s, with dilapidated infrastructure and decades of underinvestment,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“No substantial investment had been made in the electricity sector for many years. What we picked up was rundown national infrastructure that required urgent and sustained intervention.”
Prime Minister Marape outlined major investments already undertaken by the Government, including K111 million invested in 2019 to integrate 54 megawatts of privately generated hydropower into the National Capital District grid. He said the Government has also committed close to K1 billion towards upgrading and expanding national transmission infrastructure.
A key component of this investment is the 132kV transmission line linking Hides, Mount Hagen, Yonki and Lae, which will form a major national electricity carrier. Once fully completed, the line will enable power generated on either side of the system to be transmitted across Eastern Highlands, Chimbu, Jiwaka, Western Highlands, Enga, Southern Highlands and Hela provinces.
“This grid alone currently requires over 300 megawatts of power to meet present load demand,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the Government is also strengthening generation capacity across the country, noting that Yonki Power Station is currently undergoing rehabilitation to restore and optimise its existing output, while planning is progressing on the Ramu 2 Hydropower Project to further increase national supply.
Prime Minister Marape said additional generation will soon be fed into the grid, including 10 megawatts from Bulolo, while a power-generation concept for Finschhafen is also being assessed.
“These developments mean that non-subsidised power will increasingly meet our country’s electricity needs, with generation from different parts of Papua New Guinea being infused into our interconnected grids,” he said.
The Prime Minister outlined plans to expand national transmission connectivity, including a proposed high- voltage transmission line from Yonki to Madang, extending along the highway corridor to Bogia, and, in time, linking into Wewak.
“What we envision is national grid connectivity that overlays our major highways,” Prime Minister Marape said. “This includes, in the longer term—within the next five years—Port Moresby to Kerema, Kerema back to Port Moresby, and Port Moresby to Alotau.”
He said aligning power infrastructure with road development will allow electricity generated from hydro and solar sources to be transmitted efficiently across the country.
Prime Minister Marape said extensive work is also under way to strengthen power supply in Port Moresby, including plans for a new, higher-capacity transmission line linking the PNG LNG power source to the capital, supported by step-down transformers to ensure stable and appropriate power loads are delivered into the city grid.
He said this forms part of broader upgrades across PNG Power, including improvements to reticulation systems in major centres to ensure electricity is distributed safely, efficiently and reliably.
The Prime Minister said long-standing issues affecting key regional power projects are also being resolved. At the Warangoi Hydropower Station, the Government has settled the outstanding K5 million owed to landowners, clearing a major impediment to progress. Power from Warangoi is now supplying Kokopo and other centres in East New Britain.
He said the Government is working closely with provincial governments and has called on them to make land available for solar power developments, particularly to support communities that remain underserved.
“Solar energy is being pursued as an alternative and complementary source of power supply,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“In Daru, for example, we have partnered with PNG Sustainable Development Program to deliver solar- powered generation that is now ready to supply Daru town and Daru Island, in partnership with PNG Power.”
He said the Government is also awaiting land allocation by the relevant provincial authorities to progress solar investment for Wewak, while cross-border cooperation is advancing through a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Indonesia to explore electricity supply from Jayapura into Vanimo.
“Extensive work like this is happening right across the country in the power sector,” he said.
“Our objective is reliable, clean electricity delivered at a price that is competitive with some of the lowest in the region. This is critical to attracting investment, growing our economy, and ensuring the benefits of lower power costs are passed on to our people, households and businesses.”
Prime Minister Marape acknowledged that despite investments in new generation — including the Yalu Solar Farm and recently commissioned generators — electricity supply challenges persist due to ageing and overstretched distribution infrastructure.
“As I speak today, blackouts continue — not only because of generation constraints, but also because of rundown infrastructure that we are still carrying,” he said.
“I sincerely apologise to all electricity users who continue to experience power outages. I ask for patience as restoration and reconstruction work continues across PNG Power.”
He reaffirmed that reliable electricity remains central to economic growth, industrial development and improved service delivery, and said power sector reform will continue to be prioritised as part of the Government’s broader national development agenda.