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Samoa launches $50m solar project

Yesterday heralds a historical event for Samoa at Faleolo. The first site of a large-scale renewable energy project using solar is being dedicated. It has taken over two years to reach this stage.

Solar Samoa Limited, a private Samoan registered company is financing the total project at a cost of over $50 million. The Government under the leadership of Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has been heralded for making the project possible.

Solar Samoa Limited has already installed a demonstration model of solar panels on top of the new Court House building at Mulinu’u at their own expense, costing $300,000. This was done over a year ago to prove to EPC their technical capability, as this project of such a large scale has never been tried in Samoa – or anywhere else in the Pacific.

“The project will take about two years to complete after which a solar infrastructure set up at different locations in Samoa will produce four mega watts of energy into the Electric Power Corporation (EPC) grid,” a statement from the Project team says.

“On the completion of this project, Samoa will become the leader in the Pacific in terms of solar energy supplier on a per capital population basis. No other Pacific island has or is planning a renewable energy production of this size.” Benefits to Samoa will include a substantial reduction in carbon emissions as well as over $800,000 savings per year to EPC by way of direct diesel cost reductions.