Papua New Guinea town preps tidal energy evaluation

Aussie firms MAKO Tidal Turbines Pty Ltd and Kleinhardt Pty Ltd will be looking into the possibility of establishing a city-scale renewable electricity grid relying on tidal energy for the Buka town in Papua New Guinea.

The two Aussie firms have signed a cooperation agreement with the government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville to develop a business case and funding plan for the project, they announced today.

Sydney-headquartered MAKO will conduct detailed resource mapping of the Buka Passage where it expects to set up a tidal energy demonstration site in conjunction with local businesses. The company is a unit of Australian tidal turbines developer Elemental Energy Technologies Ltd. It has agreed to share all of its data with the local government.

“The Buka Passage contains enormous energy potential. In fact, our preliminary estimate is that at any one time up to 35 million tonnes of water is flowing rapidly through the passage between Buka and Bougainville Islands,” said Douglas Hunt, managing director of MAKO.

On the other hand, Queensland-based business consultancy Kleinhardt will prepare a business case for the planned upgrade of the grid. Alongside MAKO, it will identify suitable partners to help in the process.

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