Kiribati gets donor funding for Tarawa solar panels
Posted at 03:12 on 26 March, 2013 UTC
Kiribati has got funding to install solar panels at four sites across the capital Tarawa to feed electricity into the national power grid.
Australia, the World Bank and the Global Environment Fund are providing nearly five million US dollars for the project.
It is expected to reduce diesel fuel use in Kiribati by up to 230,000 litres a year and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The Kiribati President, Anote Tong, says shifting the country’s focus to reliable solar energy will provide a more secure, more sustainable power source.
“It’s the first time we are doing this. We’re excited at the prospect of even substituting fossil fuel to a small extent at this stage. What the system being envisaged will only produce around 500 kilowatts, but this is the beginning of what I hope will be a pattern, the trend in the future.”
Almost half of the country’s 110,000 people live on Tarawa atoll and are dependent on expensive diesel generation for electricity.
Solar panel installation in the United States 
Last Tuesday,  Australia and the World Bank's Global Environment Fund (GEF) reached an agreement to give the government of Kiribati 5 million (4,779,000, 5,985,000, 3,885,000) to install  around the country capital, located on the  .  According to  of , AusAID promised AU$3.2 million in funding, while GEF promised US$1 million.  The country was the first in the Pacific to make a deal with the World Bank.

The funding was part of a US$530 million (635 million) package announced at yesterday's Pacific Energy Summit in  involving New Zealand and the European Union, Australia, the , the , the , the , and the United Arab Emirates.  Also at the summit yesterday, New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister  had announced a national commitment of USD$54,262,000 (AU$51,861,000 NZ$65 million, €42,178,000) to Pacific region energy solutions, of which US$8,348,000 (AU$8 million, NZ$10 million, €6,483,000) would be specifically earmarked for renewable energy and improved energy efficiency in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
Kiribati is heavily dependent on  for most of the energy available on the national power grid, which supplies power to half Kiribati's population of 110,000. In addition, a third of the country's population lacks access to electricity. Once installation of the solar panels is complete, they are estimated to reduce diesel consumption by 230,000 liters (60,760 gallons) a year and give access to the electricity to some parts of the population that currently have no electricity.  The European Union already has committed €100 million to sustainable energy in the region, with €10 million of that coming as a result of an announcement made last week. 

In a press release about the news, Kiribati President  was quoted as saying, "Kiribati faces big challenges it is remote, it is at risk from the effects of climate change, and it is vulnerable to economic shocks. ... Shifting Kiribati's focus to reliable solar energy will provide a more secure, more sustainable power source for the country's people." '''' quoted Tong as saying, "It's the first time we are doing this. We're excited at the prospect of even substituting fossil fuel to a small extent at this stage. What the system being envisaged will only produce around 500 kilowatts, but this is the beginning of what I hope will be a pattern, the trend in the future."

The European Union's Fiji-based head of operations for the Pacific region, Renato Mele, supported alternative energy solutions like solar power for the region, but said that solar power had limitations because climate and environmental conditions sometimes meant batteries required to power the panels had a life of only 12 months, compared to other climates where batteries normally last five years.  This created the potential to drive up standard operating costs. Mele has also noted these additional costs though are still lower than the cost of diesel power.

'''' Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver noted, "Governments will be able to put the money they (currently) spend on diesel into things like education and health."


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