Renewable energy

The Department of Energy under the Ministry of MEIDECC is collaborating with development partners to monitor ongoing projects and implement new programmes to help the country reach its ambitious target.

Tonga Energy Bill

A statement said Tonga’s first Energy Bill which is anticipated to set up key governance structures in the energy sector and formalize the functions of MEIDECC’s Energy Department has been approved by Cabinet and it is now with Attorney General’s Office for processing to parliament.

Workshop Coordinator, Inoke Taufa said they aim to strengthen people’s awareness of renewable energy and energy efficiency and to increase energy efficiency at household level. 

“Target Groups are women, youths, farmers, and fishermen. We hope to improve community awareness about the government energy policies, TERM targets, existing and ongoing donor funded program of actions and how the community can benefit from them,” he said.

Activities include workshops, a community baseline survey, and developing and implementing the participants' efficient energy plans.

Approved in 2017 by ADB, the facility finances renewable energy projects in the 11 smallest Pacific island developing member countries with an overall estimated cost of $750 million, with ADB providing up to $200 million.

The project will help improve the development and implementation of renewable energy projects in Tonga, enhancing the country’s energy security and reducing carbon emissions. ADB will also administer grants worth $29.9 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and $2.5 million provided by the Government of Australia for the project.

Norway's International Development Minister, Nikolai Astrup, made the announcement at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' summit in Nauru.

Mr Astrup said the money will go to the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and the goal of 10 percent renewable energy in the Pacific.

The centre was established last year in Nuku'alofa to promote policy and investment in renewable energy.

Officiated by His Majesty, King Tupou VI, the commissioning marked a new milestone in private sector investment in the development of renewable energy generation in Tonga.

The project is the first large scale Independent Power Producer facility to be installed in the Kingdom.

This was announced after talks with a visiting senior French government official Sebastien Lecornu who said Wallis and Futuna wants to be at the forefront.

Mr Lecornu, who is the secretary of state for technological transition, says 90 percent of electricity is being produced with fossil fuels but that will drop to 50 percent by 2030.

He says a new economic model will be drawn up in broad discussions to provide a development partnership between the state and private sides.

Photo: PHOTO NZ

The Pacific Energy Update 2017 provides a comprehensive overview of ADB’s energy-focused work in the Pacific. The publication highlights the impacts of ADB-supported energy initiatives completed in 2016 and ongoing in 2017, while providing details of what ADB hopes to achieve in the energy sector in the future.

The Pacific has some of the most expensive electricity prices in the world with much of its energy coming from diesel.

The IFC and the Australian-based company, Smart Commercial Solar, will launch its project by offering a free energy report to Pacific businesses calculating how much they can save if they switch to solar.

The IFC's spokesperson, Subrata Barman, said it's time for Pacific nations to look at moving away from traditional models of power supply.

The territory aims to produce its electricity without fossil fuels by 2030 with the exception of the nickel smelters which remain key consumers running their own power plants.

The new agency will take over from the current energy control committee and also assume its budget.

A member from the Loyalty Islands says the number of households still to be hooked up to the power grid has remained unchanged for a decade but the government says many of them now have electricity from autonomous set-ups.

Photo: AFP Vale's nickel plant in New Caledonia 

The Green Climate Fund, a United Nations fund to help developing countries adapt to climate change, has granted the Cook Islands US$12 million to expand the main island's energy grid.

The announcement is the first of a series of projects, which will be led by the Asia Development Bank, to expand renewable energy around the Pacific.

The Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's office, Elizabeth Wright-Koteka, said the current grid cannot handle the current uptake of renewable energy, and the expansion will help solve that.