EU extends solar power project to Kiribati and Tonga

[Stacey King]

NZ Radio International Posted at 05:16 on 21 April, 2010 UTC

The European Union is set to expand its solar power project into two new countries.

The EU has announced it will inject 37 million US dollars into the project that began five years ago in the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Nauru and Palau.

The project aims to bring solar power to remote outer islands, and to improve energy efficiency through grid-connected renewable energy.

The EU’s Suva-based head of infrastructure and energy, Lenaic Georgelin, says they will discuss with the government of Tonga how the EU can contribute to that country’s energy roadmap.

But he says Kiribati has already signed up to be involved.

“In Kiribati it was agreed with the government that we assist local companies to electrify outer islands, so very much a replication of what we’ve been doing in Marshall Islands in FSM in the recent past. Also a replication of what we’ve being doing in Kiribati a few years ago.”

The EU’s Suva-based head of infrastructure and energy, Lenaic Georgelin

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