Renewable energy

Guy Jakobi, the General Manager of Home Biogas Pacific Regional Exclusive Distributer and a consultant for DEMA Home Biogas, is working with local authorities to expand the use of the Home Biogas Digester System in Nauruan households.

Nauru Media News reports the system converts organic waste into biogas for cooking and produces organic fertilizer for gardening.

Jakobi says the system can help reduce the dependence on imported vegetables and gas and further contribute to the fight against climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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.

A energy specialist from the World Bank addressed the 25th Pacific Power Association Conference in Nuku'alofa.

“ADB is the largest investor in renewable energy in the Pacific, which is still heavily reliant on diesel for power generation,” said Michael Trainor, Energy Specialist in ADB’s Pacific Department. “We are working with governments and communities to improve the quantity and quality of energy services across the region by ramping up support for the transition to renewable energy.”

“ADB’s energy operations in the Pacific aim to boost energy security, support low-carbon growth and help expand access to modern energy services,” said Michael Trainor, Energy Specialist in ADB’s Pacific Department.

“Our energy policy rests on promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, capacity building, and energy sector reform.”