A Taiwanese company that specialises in building solar equipment is planning to
build a new plant in Lae, Morobe, to produce solar lights, panels and other solar accessories. The company, Speedtech Energy, has four factories in Taiwan, West Africa, Caribbean and El Salvador and hopes to set up a fifth plant in the country. Chief executive Lucas Chiu accompanied Ambassador Daniel Hu to Lae last week to officially handover 48 new solar lamp posts to Lae district. Chiu, who has been travelling the world and surveying prospective locations, is here for his sixth visit. The solar lamp posts, featuring normal size street post and lighting with a solar panel and a convertor attached on top, is a product of Speedtech Energy and were donated by the Taiwanese people to Lae district under a partnership with Lae MP and Minister for Community Development, Youth and Religion Loujaya Kouza. The company has over the last 16 years produced a total of 240 different devices which harnesses the energy from the sun to power them, ranging from solar lighting to solar water pumps. “Speedtech Energy will set up another plant in Lae, I will make a report and make a serious decision to set up a plan here to cover the country and the Pacific area,” Chiu said. “PNG is really prosperous not only in abundant resources but from free energy from the sun,” Chiu said. Kouza was pleased with the announcement by the manufacturer. Hu said Chiu’s presence showed that he takes great pride in the high quality and reliability of this company’s solar products. STRATEGIC sustainability in achieving development and preserving the country’s natural resources are the government’s focus as it launches Papua New Guinea on the global market.
“The government’s intentions on trade and this approach we are now taking on sustainable development are seen as a way forward for this project to contribute to this national agenda,” National Planning and Monitoring Minister Charles Abel said. He was speaking at the signing of the new financing agreement for the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) trade related assistance project phase II to PNG in Port Moresby yesterday. Worth about K18 million, the project would be carried out over four years. The Department of Trade, Commerce and Industry would be the key implementing agency of the programme. According to Abel, the project would underpin pillar No 4 of Vision 2050 called ‘security and international relations strategy’ by contributing to positive, construction and progressive international relations in trade, diplomacy and security. “While there have been many changes globally and in fundamental ways over the last decades with varying challenges, the relationship between sustainable development and trade remains vital,” he said. Abel said maximising the contribution that trade could make to sustainable development was important to the economy. He was referring to the “PNG national strategy for responsible sustainable development”, which he launched on Tuesday. The strategy called for the creation of opportunities for personal and national advancement through economic growth, smart, innovative ideas, quality service and ensuring fair and equitable distribution of benefits in a safe and secure environment for all citizens. “We want to use our strategic assets sustainably to position us competitively in the global market. Saying PNG holds 15% of the world’s tuna supply, the government wanted to make it a sustainble propostion for future generations, Abel said. PNG Facts/ The National The PNG LNG Project remains on schedule to produce its first liquefied natural gas (LNG)
cargo in mid-year of 2014 following the recent completion of its 292-kilometre onshore section of pipeline. The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Hides Gas Conditioning Plant to the Omati River, where it connects to the Project’s 407-kilometre offshore section of pipeline and then to the LNG Plant located near Port Moresby. ExxonMobil PNG Limited senior project manager Sam Roxburgh said completion of the onshore pipeline, which rises 2,100 metres above sea level in some areas, is an important milestone for the PNG LNG Project as preparations continue for LNG production this year. “This is yet another exciting milestone for the PNG LNG Project and a great achievement for ExxonMobil PNG Limited, pipeline contractor Spiecapag, and, most importantly, for the people of Papua New Guinea,” said Mr Roxburgh. “The Project team has worked in challenging conditions, including remote locations, steep terrain, high rainfall, flooding and large areas of swampland, to build this pipeline.” It took four years and over 28 million work hours to build the pipeline, with a dedicated team that included more than 5,000 Papua New Guinea citizens from communities stretching from Omati to Hides. “The pipeline was routed and constructed to avoid critical wildlife habitat and cultural areas such as sacred or archaeological sites,” Mr Roxburgh said. “Also important were the efforts to minimise the Project’s environmental footprint.” Native vegetation has been replanted along the onshore pipeline route as environmental reinstatement activities continue. The onshore pipeline diameter ranges from 32 inches to 34 inches. In excess of 250 billion cubic metres of gas are anticipated to be transported through the pipeline during the life of the Project |
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