Caption:
Andagali taking his oath of service to PPL,withSenior Provincial
Magistrate NCD Enes Wilmont officiating
By MATTHEW VARI
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 (Midweek Chronicle, PNG)
Speaking
after being officially sworn in as the Chairman of the Board of PNG Power
Limited (PPL) on Monday, Larry Andagali pointed out that current systems in
place at the only electricity provider in the country were unsustainable for
growth.
He
added that the issue of increasing the tariff was approved and justified by
ICCC (Independent Consumer and Competition Commission) because of the increase
in fuel prices, which was something he said was to be enforced if the company
was to survive.
“Looking
at that we can see that the energy requirement, global energy requirement will
always be on the increase and that leaves me and my board to think that our
approach in the power generation sector using diesel fuel is unsustainable,”
Andagali said.
“We
have to come up with decisions; we have to come up with policy directions to
make sure that we have a sustainable power.”
He
said that on the flip side with natural gas deposits being found, the resource
could be the fuel of choice which PPL could venture into in terms of
electricity generation and the potential for hydro generation as well, which
Andagali said had the potential to enable the export of electricity.
“Looking
at gas- it is one of the resources that is readily available to us, but also
because with the increase in the global energy requirement, maybe that is a
good commodity that we need to export,” he said.
“What
we are blessed with is fast flowing rivers that are readily available in every
provinces right throughout the country.”
“As
a board and as a company- our target needs to be really focused on creating
sustainable energy generation, and I see that hydro power- moving forward is a
really sustainable way for us to generate electricity.”
He
said the way forward was to focus on power generation, power transmission, and
power distribution, and the public private partnership arrangements where
generation of electricity could be outsourced.
“So
we still maintain the transmission, and distribution monopoly, but power
generation needs to be outsourced through our superfunds and our sister SoEs
(State owned Enterprises), who are cashed up with money need to invest- not
only for 20 years, but 30 to 100 years.”
“I
know we need to do something different to unlock the potentials that are out
there, because the way we are doing business at the moment, electricity is unsustainable.”
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