UAE-Pacific partnership fund provides project financing in Fiji with three new solar micro grid projects
H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's minister of foreign affairs, inaugurated a solar photovoltaic micro grid project on Wednesday in the town of Nadi, on Fiji's main island, that will bring clean energy to some of Fiji's outer islands.
An initiative led and constructed by Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, the clean energy project is now the third financed by the United Arab Emirates' $50 million Pacific Partnership Fund, through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development ( ADFD ). The Fiji project was financed with $5 million from the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund.
The solar plants together have a capacity of 555 kilowatts (kW) and will provide more than 40 per cent of the daily electricity demand of each of the three islands. The energy produced will collectively avoid emitting 722 tons of CO2 each year and save 259,000 litres of diesel fuel worth $497,000 annually.
H.H. Sheikh Abdullah said at the inauguration: “The UAE is committed to demonstrating how renewable energy can provide clean power and spur economic development while mitigating climate change, particularly for Pacific Island countries.
“We commend Masdar and ADFD on successfully completing solar micro grids that will help Fiji meet its electricity needs in a more sustainable manner.”
The three new solar micro grid projects include a 249 kW solar plant in Kadavu Island, a 153kW solar plant in Lakeba Island and a 153 kW solar plant in Rotuma Island.
"The United Arab Emirates and Fiji have a strong bilateral relationship, and we thank the government of the UAE for funding, developing and delivering this important and valuable project,” said Hon. Voreqe Bainimarama, prime minister of Fiji, at the inaugural event. “The micro grids will provide electricity for homes as well as help produce clean energy to develop small-scale industries and enterprises in these remote islands,"
Masdar has established a solid track record in the Pacific Islands, completing a 500 kW solar plant on the Kingdom of Tonga's island of Vava'u, commissioned in November 2013, and a 550 kW wind farm on Samoa, commissioned in August 2014. The UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund financed both projects.
The Pacific Island projects address the high cost of diesel imports in Pacific countries, as well as delivering reductions in CO2 emissions. Research from the International Renewable Energy Agency indicates that renewable energy is now the most cost-competitive source of power in the Pacific Islands.