PNG hydro power plan for Australia

Adelaide Advertiser
Thursday 16/9/2010 Page: 57

Origin Energy has unveiled an ambitious plan to supply Australia with electricity from a multibillion dollar hydro-power plant in Papua New Guinea. Origin Energy would partner a PNG company to use the massive Purari River, with the development having capacity to create about 1800MWs of renewable baseload electricity. Two-thirds of the power would be transmitted via an under-sea cable to northern Queensland, where it would be fed into the national power grid at Townsville.

The Purari River, in PNG's Gulf Province, was described by Origin Energy managing director Grant King as an "extraordinary resource" that ultimately would be developed. "We are very confident in the long run, once we satisfy all the important areas around social and environmental development, that this project would and should proceed", Mr King said. Including building a dam and transmission lines, he said the project would cost many billions of dollars. The Purari has flows large enough to fill an area the size of Sydney Harbour in two days and is four times larger than the Murray River system.

Investors, however, failed to be impressed by the plans, which are yet to be supported by a feasibility study. Analyst Peter Kopetz, from State One Stockbroking, described the project as "far-fetched". Shares in the energy company dropped 17c, or 1.1%, to close at $15.48, defying a broader market rise. "It reminds me of the good old days of PNG supplying gas to Queensland... which came up to nothing, and I think that is what is likely to happen to this", Mr Kopetz said. "Maybe the next thing will be getting water from PNG". The possibility of using hydro power generated at the river has been discussed since the 1970s.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told State Parliament before signing a memorandum of co-operation power from the sparsely populated PNG region could be pumping into the national grid by 2020. "To put that amount of power into context, the peak energy consumption of the entire state from all energy sources today is around 8900MWs", she said. "This would be the biggest shot in the arm for regional Australia since the Snowy River scheme". PNG Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Works and Transport, Don Pomb Polye, said the signing of the memorandum was a milestone in the project, which would provide green power to remote PNG communities.