The first ever hybrid system of renewable energy in Vanuatu, consisting of a pico-hydropower and Portable Voltage (PV) solar hybrid mini-grid system was officially launched on Monday, the 23rd of January 2023 at Loltong village in North Pentecost.
The hydro itself has a capacity of 6.8 kilowatts, and the solar has a capacity of 2 kilowatts, making a total of 8.8 kilowatts of hydro and solar system altogether.
The hydro solar system comprises 97 households including two schools, churches, shops, nakamal, kava grinding businesses, and a bricks workshop.
According to the Director of the Department of Energy (DoE), Anthony Garae, the project was funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) to support incremental activities in the country, and it was administered by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on their behalf.
He mentioned that the project is an upscale of the pico-hydropower system that was started by the New Zealand government jointly with the Loltong community.
On Tuesday January 24 (yesterday), a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the central part of the island at Waterfall village to officially start the construction of another pico-hydro system project.
This project is similar to that launched at Loltong village, except that it is not a hybrid- it only consists of a hydro system, unlike the one at Loltong which consists of both a hydro and solar system.
The project is funded by the same donor and is administered by UNDP still, on their behalf.
Director Garae mentioned that the waterfall site was selected based on an initial Hydro Resource Mapping for Vanuatu that was conducted by the DoE Vanuatu, to identify hydro potential sites around the country.
He said the hydro system will supply water not only to the households at Ranwadi College, but also to the following villages: Rowok, Saulaba, Lalwori, San Mara, Lare, Waterfall and Lebush.
He stated that the project is also known as a “barrier removal for achieving the national energy road map targets of Vanuatu”.
“The project’s main component is to promote the pico-hydro system, community scale solar PV, Nano grid, and also promote energy efficiency in Vanuatu,” the Director added.
On behalf of the Vanuatu Government, Director Garae acknowledged the private sector, particularly contractors such as Savvy Solar, Pacific Communication Solutions (PCS), Vanuatu Agricultural Supplies and Trama TecnoAmbiental (TTA) for their participation and assistance in carrying out the project.
Present to witness the 2-day launching and groundbreaking ceremony on Pentecost were the Minister of Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu and his first Political Advisor, Members of Parliament (MPs) from Pentecost, Fiji’s UNDP representative, Vanuatu’s UNDP representative, the Director of the DoE, and other invited government officials.
Great news about this new solar/hydro hybrid! It was not quite the first in Vanuatu, though. In November 2022 a partnership of FlyFleet and University of New South Wales (UNSW - Sydney) commissioned a system with two Powerspout hydro turbines and a 3.5kW solar array at Imaki, SE Tanna. It is now supplying abundant electricity to the Imaki schools and aid post and community. These projects are excellent outcomes for both the Tanna and Pentecost communities.
Hi Richard, thanks for your comment. It is not really relevant if it was the first project of this type or not but it was indeed. The Loltong system has been operational since 2021 but due to the many logistic issues faced during 2022 (covid lockdown, cyclone season and a change in government) it was not until this week that it was officially launched. The project also uses Power Spout turbines like the Imaki system, which by the way is a great project, congrats! Hopefully more projects like these are to follow!
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(2) comments
Great news about this new solar/hydro hybrid! It was not quite the first in Vanuatu, though. In November 2022 a partnership of FlyFleet and University of New South Wales (UNSW - Sydney) commissioned a system with two Powerspout hydro turbines and a 3.5kW solar array at Imaki, SE Tanna. It is now supplying abundant electricity to the Imaki schools and aid post and community. These projects are excellent outcomes for both the Tanna and Pentecost communities.
Hi Richard, thanks for your comment. It is not really relevant if it was the first project of this type or not but it was indeed. The Loltong system has been operational since 2021 but due to the many logistic issues faced during 2022 (covid lockdown, cyclone season and a change in government) it was not until this week that it was officially launched. The project also uses Power Spout turbines like the Imaki system, which by the way is a great project, congrats! Hopefully more projects like these are to follow!
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.