REEEP

Cleaning up energy in the Pacific Islands

Melbourne, 22.07.2010 - (written by REEEP Southeast Asia and Pacific)

A new association for sustainable energy in the Pacific will deliver greater support to the clean energy players in countries such as the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga and Tuvalu, while helping to raise the standard of local installations in the process.

Global Sustainable Energy Solutions (GSES) received funding through REEEP’s 7th global funding round in June 2010 to set up a Pacific Islands Sustainable Energy Association (PISEA) which is on track to be fully registered by the end of September this year.

To qualify for clean energy funding in the Pacific, most major donor programs require people to demonstrate their experience and ability in the installation of renewable energy systems. As a result, a lot of the work is done by contractors from other countries who are flown in and the Pacific Islanders are missing out.

One of the PISEA’s first actions will be to develop a certification process for local installers that will set a benchmark and enable them to qualify for these programs in the future. Guidelines will also be released for both on-grid and off-grid systems to improve the quality and safety.

Project implementer Geoff Stapleton, CEO of GSES, said feedback has been very positive following meetings with industry representatives in Fiji, Vanuatu, Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Early in July Geoff presented on the project at the Pacific Power Association Conference in Port Moresby and talked to power utilities throughout the Pacific. More meetings are slated for Kiribati, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands and others in the coming weeks.

The project team will soon be distributing a survey form that will help determine appropriate fees, certification processes, guidelines and a business plan. The survey will also help in the planning of two full-day workshops that will be organised in September – one in the South Pacific and one in the North Pacific.

The association will open an office in both the North and South Pacific.

To the article
Back to top