Power woes and load shedding issues in PNGs industrial heartland Lae city are about to be drastically improved.

PNG Power Limited (PPL) on Thursday 23rd October 2025, announced a transformative progress in terms of an overhaul of its infrastructures to be able to deliver a more reliable, stable, and constant power supply to the second largest city of the country.

“Lae is switching on to a new era of energy reliability,” said Paul Bayly, Chief Executive Officer of PNG Power Ltd.

“From high-voltage transmission lines to upgraded substations and new gensets, Lae city’s power issues will be greatly eased.”

This major infrastructure overhaul is part of a landmark upgrade to the Ramu Grid, jointly funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Government of Papua New Guinea.

The initiative includes:

• Construction of a second 132 kV transmission line from Singsing to Lae via Erap

• Development of a new Singsing substation.

• Installation of new transmission towers.

• Rehabilitation of Taraka and Erap substations.

• Completion of 132KV transmission line from Yonki to Taraka with Line testing and

energization expected to be completed within 2–3 weeks.

• Upgrades to capacitor banks at Milford Haven Substation.

• Installation of 2nd Transformer at Milford Haven Substation.

• And the completion of concrete pad at Taraka for 12MW genset relocation, with

installation and control room integration expected within 2–3 weeks.

These upgrades are designed to dramatically improve the quality and consistency of power delivery, significantly reduce outages, and introduce critical redundancy to the Lae network.

CEO Bayly further added that this means that there will be faster fault recovery, enhanced operational stability, and uninterrupted service -even in the event of a fault on the primary line.

“As Lae continues to grow, PNG Power remains committed to supporting its development with robust and dependable energy infrastructure.”