The United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a deal with four Pacific island countries for renewable energy projects, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday. The solar-powered projects, expected to be completed by 2016, are located in the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and the Solomon Islands.
The recent completion of a solar power project for the Pacific nation of Vanuatu marks the latest stage of a $50 million initiative managed by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company. The solar PV installations in Vanuatu consist of 644kWp ground-mounted and car park structures at the Parliament House premises, and a 123kWp ground-mounted installation at the Meteorology and Geo-Hazard Department building.
PACNEWS Article. To date, Masdar says it has deployed five projects with capacity to generate 2.6MW of electricity, the first being a 512- kilowatt solar plant on Tonga. The projects also include the region’s first ever wind farm, on Samoa, and three “micro-grid” solar plants in Fiji, which are supplying clean energy to its outer islands.
PACNEWS Article. Samoa’s first wind farm, developed by UAE clean energy company Masdar, was inaugurated on Saturday by the country’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi.
First announced during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2014, the 550KW project is the second to be completed under the $50 million UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund, which is managed by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).
PACNEWS Article. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed Fiji Government that the board of the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund has approved a grant funding for a joint renewable energy project in Fiji worth USD5M, for immediate implementation.
Media release issued by the Tonga Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC) on the joint SPC-APEC regional workshop in Tonga.
In an ongoing effort to solve the region’s significant energy challenges, Pacific Island countries and territories and development partners are meeting this week (July 21 to 23 Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HST)) in Honolulu to share experiences on increasing the use of renewable energy. Key speakers will discuss comprehensive approaches to energy sector transformation, including the importance of enabling legal and regulatory frameworks, capacity building, and financing. The workshop will examine a number of Pacific case studies, such as different clean energy initiatives in Hawai’i.
SPC Media Release, Thursday 12 March 2015.
Two villages in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea, home to some 1200 people, began to enjoy the benefits of electricity over the weekend, thanks to their partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Sunday 24 May 2015 News - extracted from Samoaobserver News Site
Reserve Bank of Fiji Press Release.