Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In November 2014, China Railway Construction Engineering Group, AG Investment Limited, and China Development Bank Corporation signed a project investment and financing framework for the 50MW Edevu Hydropower Plant Project. Then, in 2017, China Development Bank signed a $260 million loan agreement with PNG Hydro Development Company Limited (PNGHDCL or PNGHDL or 巴布亚新几内亚水电开发公司) — a special purpose vehicle (SPV) — for the 50MW Edevu Hydropower Plant Project. The borrowing terms of the CDB loan are unknown. In 2017, China Eximbank also expressed interest in lending to PNGHDL for the 50MW Edevu Hydropower Plant Project, but it is unclear if a loan agreement with China Eximbank was ever finalized. PNGHDL also signed a power purchase agreement with PNG Power (PPL) — a state-owned power utility — and under the terms of this agreement PNGHDL agreed to produce electricity and sell it to PPL. The purpose of the project is to construct a 50MW hydropower plant near the village of Edevu within Kairuku-Hiri District in Central PNG. The project involves the construction of a 55 meter high geomembrane faced rockfill dam, overflow chute spillway, and a 51 MW surface power station at the toe of the dam. The project site is located at 147°20ʹ23.5ʹ east longitude and 9°11ʹ23.6ʹ’ south latitude in the middle reaches of the Brown River in the northern part of PNG's capital Port Moresby. Upon completion, it is expected that the power plant will generate between 50MW and 54MW of additional power for the capital city Port Moresby, as well as provide residents with an alternative water source. Hunan Hong Yu Engineering Group Ltd., China Railway Construction Engineering Group, AG Investment Limited and SMEC are the contractors responsible for project design and implementation. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 6, 2017. Then, in late May 2017, the construction of a 500 meter underground diversion tunnel was completed. On August 15, 2019, China Energy Gezhouba Group signed a contract for project management (PMC) with PNGHDL. The project was originally expected to commence on April 7, 2015 and reach completion on April 30, 2016, but the project completion date was later pushed out to June 2022. As of October 2022, the project was still not complete.
Staff comments
1. This project is also known as the 54MW Edevu Hydropower Plant Project, Edwu Hydropower Station Project, the EDEVU Hydropower Project and the Edevu HPP. The Chinese project title is 埃德伍水电站. 2. On February 19, 2016, the Edevu-Moitaka 132 kV Double Circuit Transmission Line Project was launched. The purpose of this project is to evacuate power from the 50MW Edevu Hydropower Plant — and eventually the 80MW Upper Naoro Brown Hydropower Plant — to Moitaka and Gerehu substations. It is unclear how the Edevu-Moitaka 132 kV Double Circuit Transmission Line Project is being financed. This issue requires further investigation. 3. The project has also secured financing Hunan Provincial Government through the Lishui Company (LHPC, also known as Hunan Lishui River Rasin Water Conservancy and Hydropower Development Co, Ltd, 湖南澧水清洁能源投资有限公司), which was jointly established by the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources and the Hunan Provincial People's Government. LHPC provided RMB 12.5 million in support of the project (as captured via Record ID#68901). 4. The China Eximbank loan pledge is captured in Record ID#68905. Some sources suggest China Eximbank is the sole financier of the project rather than China Development Bank. This issue merits further investigation. 5. It is unclear who owns PNG Hydro Development Company Limited. Some sources indicate that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of AG Investment Limited. Other sources indicate that East Vision Group of China is the majority shareholder. Still other sources indicate that a local group of landowner have an equity stake in the project. This issue requires further investigation.