ADB investing over $1bn to help Pacific's renewable energy transition
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest over $1 billion worth of energy projects in the Pacific from 2019 to 2021 to increase renewable energy generation and improve access to affordable and sustainable electricity in the subregion.
The lender's Pacific Energy Update 2019 details how the bank is helping its Pacific developing member countries move away from fossil fuel-based energy sources and towards renewables. The report provides a country-by-country snapshot of energy needs and opportunities, and profiles how 29 ADB-supported projects are enabling governments, communities, and the private sector improve energy security, lower the cost of power, and reduce carbon emissions.
In Papua New Guinea, the Power Sector Development Project — ADB’s biggest energy project in the Pacific — will expand the transmission and distribution network to increase the national electrification rate from 12% to 19% by 2028. Other ADB financing is extending Port Moresby’s power grid, constructing or refurbishing hydropower plants, and increasing operators’ abilities to manage and maintain power facilities.
In Solomon Islands, the 15MW Tina River Hydropower Project is projected to meet 68% of the country’s needs while reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 49,500 tonnes per year — more than twice what the government has committed to.
And in Samoa, ADB financing has helped rehabilitate and increase the output of hydropower facilities damaged in 2012’s Cyclone Evan, as well as build a new dam that will prevent flooding, secure water supplies, and generate power. ADB is also facilitating private sector investment to expand a local solar plant.
