Construction has begun on New Zealand-supported renewable energy projects in the Pacific island nations of the Cook Islands and Tuvalu in a bid to reduce their reliance on imported fossil fuels, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Thursday.
A New Zealand company had been awarded the construction contracts for two major renewable energy projects that would result in solar energy covering 95 percent of the electricity demands of large parts of the Cook Islands and Tuvalu, McCully said in a statement.
"In the Cook Islands, New Zealand is supporting the construction of eight solar generation systems for the six outer islands of Rakahanga, Pukapuka, Nassau, Penrhyn, Manihiki and Palmerston. The total value of this investment is 20.5 million NZ dollars (17.29 million U.S. dollars)," said McCully.
"In Tuvalu we will develop four mini-grid solar-hybrid systems on the islands of Niutao, Nanumanga, Nanumea and Vaitupu, at a total cost of 13.9 million NZ dollars (11.72 million U.S. dollars), " he said.
A solar energy project in the Pacific island nation of Tokelau saw that country save 900,000 NZ dollars (758,789 U.S. dollars) in diesel costs every year and reduced its CO2 emissions by more than 1,300 tones.
"These are exactly the sort of results we want to replicate across the Pacific through our support for renewable energy initiatives," McCully said.