Funding secured for solar and agriculture project on Ovalau

Funding has been secured through the Green Climate Fund for a project that is expected to cut dependence on diesel generators in Ovalau by 50%.

The Fiji Agro-photo-voltaic Project in Ovalau is expected to take 2 years and will involve the co-developing of the same area of land for both solar powers as well as for agriculture.

Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Fiji Development Bank has successfully secured funding of $US5 million as an official accredited entity of the Green Climate Fund which is the world's largest dedicated fund helping developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change.

Sayed-Khaiyum says these funds will go towards the new solar and agriculture project on Ovalau which has a total value of $US10 million.

He says through the first part of the project, a four-megawatt solar energy generation facility with a battery energy storage system will be set up.

Sayed-Khaiyum says tall solar panels will be installed on seven hectares of agriculture land in Bureta, Ovalau.

He says underneath each solar panel, they will plant resilient high-value crops for commercial agriculture like tomatoes, lettuce and capsicum.

Sayed-Khaiyum adds right now Ovalau’s nearly 10,000 residents are 100% dependent on diesel generators.

He says this project will cut that reliance by more than half, bringing dependence on diesel generators down to 57% which is over 4,500 tonnes of emissions averted.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the agricultural component of the project is expected to yield a hundred thousand kilograms of crops in a year feeding, employing and earning an income for Fijians living in Bureta and across Ovalau’s 27 communities.

He says from a community perspective, this project holds special importance for women and young people who have the chance to learn new farming techniques, creating jobs in our agriculture sector at a time when we badly need those jobs.

Sayed-Khaiyum adds that Fijians in these communities, including women, will be trained in solar photovoltaic operation and maintenance, helping them develop one of this century’s most useful skill-sets, given the surging rise in renewables.

He says this project would not have been possible without the strong support of the Korean Government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency.

Sayed-Khaiyum says KOICA’s grant contribution of US$4 million to purchase the 5-megawatt hour Battery Energy Storage System for the solar photovoltaic component of the project.

He says the agriculture component of the project will also be funded by KOICA through a separate project in coordination with FDB.

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