ENGIE, Electric Vine to provide electricity for 3,000 villages in Papua

French multinational electric utility company ENGIE signed on Friday cooperation agreement with Electric Vine Industries (EVI) to design, fund, develop, operate, and manage ?smart? photovoltaic micro network that would supply electricity for some 3,000 villages in Papua Province.

ENGIE said in a statement that the US$240 million worth project will provide power for some 2.5 million households in the province for 24-hour a day, seven days a week for 20 years.

EVI is a private sector micro network developer in less developed villages in Southeast Asia region.

ENGIE said that the five-year project is a form of support to the Indonesian government?s program to increase electrification in the country to 100 percent by 2020.

The statement said that Papua is a province with the lowest electrification ratio in Indonesia. ENGIE hopes that the electricity supply from the project will help open opportunities for the villagers to improve their economic welfare.

?This project is in line with the vision and strategy of ENGIE Group,? said Didier Holleaux, Vice President Executive of ENGIE Group in the statement, adding that the company aims to become a pioneer in the world for new energy development through collaboration with other parties.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak