pacific island nations get funds for renewable energy projects
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Pacific Island nationsPacific Island nations get funds for renewableget funds for renewable
energy projectsenergy projectshttp://www.thecrownmanagement.com/
Bernadette Carreon – Fourth Estate Cooperative ContributorAuckland, New Zealand (4E) – Pacific island nations have obtained $635m in loans and grants in a two day meeting with international aid donors at the Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland.
The fund will be used for renewable energy projects and most of the projects are solar.
The New Zealand government gave NZ$65m in grants for renewable projects.
Kingdom of Tonga’s solar array that was completed in August of 2012 for the Kingdom of Tonga was fully funded by the government of New Zealand, but through Meridian Energy.
It is a small beginning. This first project will supply only an estimated 4% of Tonga’s electricity demand, but Tonga through its strategic development plan is actively looking for new projects to meet 50% of its electricity from renewables within five years.
The expected resul tof loans for renewable energy in the Pacific will signify that half of the electricity will come from renewables within five years throughout nearly all of the Pacific nations.