Pre-feasibility for a town electrification network in Papua New Guinea

Building-level network design and investment phasing

VIDA assessed the technical and economic feasibility of extending the electricity network of Wewak, provincial capital of East Sepik, to surrounding rural settlements. The work was carried out for the Asian Development Bank under the European Space Agency’s GDA Clean Energy programme. Papua New Guinea’s electrification rate stood at 19% in 2023 against a national target of 70% by 2030, and open geospatial data for the region is sparse owing to dense forest cover.

 

Analysis

From 50cm satellite imagery, VIDA mapped 2,822 individual buildings, against 1,530 recorded in open datasets, and added 24km of previously unmapped roads. Seventeen settlements were delineated along the corridor. Each building was classified by footprint size to derive electricity demand, and the low-voltage network designed as a minimum spanning tree connecting every building above 10 square metres. A medium-voltage route was traced along existing roads, and the corridor divided into four sections capable of sequential construction.

Findings

The full extension would connect 1,427 customers, including a health post and five schools, at a capital cost of $6.1m across 31km of medium-voltage and 60km of low-voltage line. Assessed against national tariffs, the complete corridor requires a 68% subsidy to achieve payback within 25 years. The first section alone requires 29%, at $1,931 per connection, identifying where investment should begin. A further 398 households beyond the corridor were identified as candidates for standalone systems.