Australia supports ‘Uiha island’s transition to solar power
14 September, 2022. Australia is committed to supporting the Government of Tonga’s goal of moving to 70% renewable energy by 2030.
Australia is proud to announce the island of ‘Uiha in Ha’apai is this week smoothly transitioning from diesel to solar power generation through the support of the Outer Islands Renewable Energy Project (OIREP) led by Asian Development Bank and co-financed by Australia and other donor partners.
The Australian High Commissioner, Her Excellency Rachael Moore, visited the ‘Uiha community last week to inspect OIREP’s progress. High Commissioner Moore was accompanied by the Acting Governor of Ha’apai, Ms. ‘Ana Uaafe Veikoso and the Infrastructure and Energy Program Manager, Mapa Taumalolo and officers from OIREP and the Australian High Commission.
Three Gamma Solutions technicians, Valentine, Álvaro and Paula, the Project Manager, Seti Chen and the Safeguard Specialist, Hikaione Loumoli are currently in ‘Uiha, Ha’apai to do the testing of the solar system operation.
Seti Chen said, “I am so thrilled to see the joy amongst the households in ‘Uiha and Felemea as they access electricity from the solar panels – these have provided 100% renewable power on 24-hour cycles since the testing commenced on Sunday 11 September. I can say we are now nearing final acceptance testing for a practical commissioning.”
Until now, households in ‘Uiha and Felemea had access to electricity generated by diesel in only 6 hours a day.
Halatokoua, one of the talking chiefs in ‘Uiha said, “I’m so happy to witness this milestone in ‘Uiha. Increasing our accessibility to electricity from 6 hours a day to 24 hours is just magical and phenomenal! I am just speechless to express my gratitude for this project. Praise the Lord!”
Under the program ‘Uiha has had a 100kWp solar mini-grid and 210kWh battery with 50kW diesel generation installed with wiring to 197 households.
‘Uiha residents can now iron their clothes and refrigerate their fishes, lobsters and octopus in their own home as long as they have the appliances.
The testing is scheduled to be completed on Friday 16 September and the team will move on to do the remaining works and testing in Ha’ano, Ha’apai.
There will be continuous on-job training by the OIREP team so that the communities solar committee will be familiar with the system and know how to operate their hybrid system. There is also software that’s connected to the technician’s phone to notify them once an issue is detected with their powerstaton.
‘Uiha also have a diesel genset as a backup – should any issue arise with the system the program will disconnect itself automatically.
Congratulations to the OIREP team and the ‘Uiha community on a job well done. And congratulations to the Government of Tonga for moving another step closer to your renewable energy target.
