New Ireland Governor, Sir Julius Chan has welcomed the support of Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd (KPHL) along with New Ireland through its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) concept, in providing alternate source of energy to the province. Sir J said green and renewable energy is the way of the future and will definitely help to solve the constant power issues faced in the Province. “New Ireland is a major tourism destination as well as a resource rich province and in the past 15 years has seen an increase in population due to the Provincial Government’s social impact policies, thus the demand for reliable power supply is even greater today.” Sir J acknowledged that KPHL has been engaging with his government to progress the undertaking which began back in 2021 through a signing of a MoU, and is looking forward to see the implementation of the green power project in the near future. “Everyone benefits when there is reliable power supply. Business houses, schools, hospitals, government offices, churches, the airport. The list is endless. With Green Energy it’s an added bonus because we won’t be leaving any carbon footprints behind.” Furthermore, KPHL plans to set up the pilot Solar Power project in Kavieng town. The project will target 5MW power generating facility inclusive of a direct connection to the existing PNG Power Limited (PPL) Transmission lines and grid that supports the township of Kavieng and potential customers that operate along the Boluminski Highway to Namatanai. Currently KPHL is undertaking an assessment on onsite power infrastructure with Kramer Ausenco Consortium undertaking engineering technical designs that allows the project to review the different options and make an informed decision to select the option that provides the best operability and maintenance plans for investment and potential returns.