Former Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill is calling on the police hierarchy to look into the 25-year power purchase contract between PNG Power Limited and Dirio Power Station.
The contract will be netting nearly K1.4 billion for Dirio Gas and Energy over the life of the agreement.
“The 25-year Power Purchase Agreement between Dirio Gas & Energy and PNG Power executed in October 2019 requires PNG Power (Limited) to pay for 45MW of electricity whether they need the power or not,” O’Neill said in a media statement today.
“The cost of the power from Dirio Power Station was an average of K1.40 per kilowatt hour between January and August 2024 compared to the average tariff metered by PNG Power of K0.91 to its customers. The highest rate charged by Dirio to PPL this year was an eye-watering K2.31/kwhr.”
“Let me put it simply, based on this average for 2024, PNG Power will have to pay Dirio K1.379 billion over the next 25 years even if they do not need the power produced or for some reason cannot access the power due to say fallen power lines or faulty substation.”
“Under the contract, PNG Power will lose eight hundred and eighty-six million, nine hundred and fifty thousand Kina (K886,950,000) even before all other expenses relating to running PNG Power are considered over the next 25 years.”
“To give a comparison, I am told PNG Power buys power from NiuPower, a joint venture between Santos and KPHL, at around K0.75/kilowatt hour. Dirio is nearly double this at K1.40/kilowatt hour. POM Hydro at Edevu, is approximately K0.40/kilowatt hour and the Exxon Mobil gas turbines about 0.68/kilowatt hour.”
“If this were not bad enough, most of the money to be paid Dirio is to be paid in US Dollars.
Why must payment be in USD when it is a PNG owned company?”
“The answer lies in the hands of a group of money men led by Geoffrey Lawrence (UK citizen) and Nathan Daly (Australian citizen) who in 2013 established a company called Pacific Energy Consulting, a foreign owned entity according to IPA official searches. Pacific Energy Consulting is owned by Asia Pacific Energy Ventures (APEV) in Singapore.”
“In a 2022 US Securities Commission application, Geoff Lawrence claimed the National Executive Council of PNG directed his company to undertake several large-scale power projects in PNG. The submission states Pacific Energy Consulting or Pacific Energy Contracting as it is now known, will be 100% owned by Asia Pacific Energy Ventures.”
“Searches done in Singapore on APEV reveal it is owned by four companies in the British Virgin Islands. These companies are Fuato Limited, Season Cove Limited, Snowfields Wealth Management Limited, and Tanuki Holdings Limited.
The British Virgin Islands is a notorious hot spot used by shady businessmen and politicians to cover up wealth and ownership.”
“Dirio shareholders, largely Hela Provincial Government and other landowner groups; perhaps are not aware that when money is paid to Dirio, first it will go to paying their contractors Pacific Energy Consulting and flow to the owners of the three companies in the British Virgin Islands to pay outstanding bills owed to PEC and for ongoing operations.”
“Dirio shareholders are in the hands of MRDC who arranged the initial transaction. For a long time, the only shareholder of Dirio was Governor Hela Province, Philip Undialu.”
“Sir Mekere Morauta must have known something was up. In a statement titled “Something Fishy about MRDC Dirio Deal with Foreign Companies,” released on the 2nd of December 2019, Sir Mekere said MRDC might be undermining the national interest and treating landowners as fronts to ship out millions of Kina.” Read more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2019/12/something-fishy-about-mrdc-deal.html
“The arrangements between Dirio and its contractor PEC, who built the very delayed and grossly over budget Dirio Power Station at Caution Bay outside Port Moresby are not known.
PEC were also contracted by PNG Power to build the substation needed to evacuate the electricity from the power station on to the PNG Power grid – at 100% cost to PNG Power.”
“Over one billion Kina is going to be paid to Dirio over the next 25 years at a rate 50 toea more than what PNG Power can charge for the electricity, and we do not know how much is going to end up in the hands of shadowy companies who could easily be funneling cash directly into the hands of politicians. We are not to know unless a full investigation is carried out by independent experts.”
“It warrants very close inspection as this highly inflated contract is forced on PNG Power just months after government changed in 2019.”
“Dirio shutting down the power station last Friday has prompted people in the know to come forward with information.
Honest people are increasingly frustrated that the landowners of Dirio appear just to be a front for a very well-crafted international money crime to scam the people of PNG out of millions of Kina.”
“I urge PNG Power and the Board of Dirio to act with absolute caution and for the Minister responsible to not let one toea of Papua New Guineans money be paid directly or indirectly to Pacific Energy Consulting; Pacific Energy Contracting; T20 Holdings or any associated entity outside of PNG until this matter has been thoroughly investigated.”
“There is a long list of witnesses who can be compelled to tell authorities what they know.”
“We live in darkness and debt not because we are a hopeless country but because of rampant incompetency and corruption of this Marape headed government.”