Thursday April 7th, 2022, saw the skies pour down over Popondetta town. As car loads of visitors started making their way from the township towards Divune. Others boarded early morning flights into Popondetta as the towns lodges and guest houses couldn’t cater for the amount of visitors flooding in. Divune is located on the outskirts of Popondetta, about 65kms away and 20km away from Kokoda. As Oro Governor, Hon. Gary Juffa mentioned in his 2020 speech regarding the project, “Divune hydro was one of the major projects of the Oro Provincial Government, in partnership with AGI, the ADB and National Government”. AG Investment was proud to finally deliver this 3MW run off river, mini hydropower over to PNG Power and the people of Popondetta, Oro Province.
This development will replace the existing diesel generators that are currently supplying power to the area. The power produced from this will sufficiently supply Popondetta town, Kokoda and the surrounding areas. The event was witnessed by Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Hon. James Marape, Oro Governor, Hon. Gary Juffa, a list of delegates from PNG Power, including Hydropower expert Mr. Donald Tuheana, ADB representatives and AG Investment’s Managing Director, Mr. Allan Guo.
"Hydro is the cleanest..the cheapest..reliable source of energy supply into our country" - Hon. James Marape
The Prime Minister opened the hydropower plant with these words,“Hydro is the cleanest..the cheapest..reliable source of energy supply to our country,”..“the first hydro power project we opened was in Warrangoi (Pomio, East New Britain – Refurbished by AG Investment) last year…“We now have this technology right that (can be extended to all the provinces)..We look forward to similar partnership with other hydro projects for the country.”
Divune Hydropower is one of AG Investment’s fully commissioned project, from initial feasibility studies to construction and now to the commissioning. This was a momentous occasion for us in Popondetta and also in our other project sites around Papua New Guinea. To be involved in hydropower construction, is not an easy task and takes years at a time, but when the project is completed, we get a sense of satisfaction in knowing the amount of people this will benefit (over 1500 households) and the contribution we have made to developing rural PNG.
Article by Margaret Tambagle
@AG Investment, Port Moresby
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