Southern Energy Systems

Ita Kuna is the founder and director of Southern Energy Systems, a Papua New Guinean energy developer dedicated to unlocking the nation's vast indigenous power resources. His career has been defined by a single, consistent conviction: that PNG's own geothermal, hydro and renewable wealth can and must be the engine of national development.

That conviction has been matched by diligence. Across years of work in PNG's energy and resource sector, Mr Kuna has pursued energy development the right way — leading with rigorous technical study, respecting the rights and aspirations of customary landowners, and insisting that projects be both commercially sound and genuinely beneficial to local communities. He understands that in Papua New Guinea, energy is never just an engineering question; it is a question of land, people, trust and patience.

Under his direction, Southern Energy Systems approaches every opportunity with the same discipline: identify the resource, study it honestly, engage the community early, and build only what will endure. He has championed geothermal in particular — recognising, well ahead of the wider conversation, that the proven 56 MW field on Lihir Island is not an isolated curiosity but a signpost to a national resource spread along the Bismarck volcanic arc.

Mr Kuna's diligence extends to the harder, unglamorous work of nation-building energy: aligning projects with the PNG Electrification Partnership's goal of 70% access by 2030, engaging with PNG Power and development financiers, and holding projects to standards of environmental and social responsibility. It is this combination — technical seriousness, community respect, and long-term stewardship — that defines both the man and the company he leads.