The solar project is being funded under Japan’s “Cool Earth Partnership” program and will support solar power installations in the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Tonga.
The Marshall Islands grant will see solar panels and related equipment installed on the Majuro Hospital roof to feed up to 200 kilowatts of electricity into the power grid for Majuro Atoll, the capital of the Marshall Islands.
The Marshall Islands government had requested the solar project provide one megawatt of power — about 10 percent of current Majuro usage — but funding limitations and the need to include funding support for training solar maintenance workers reduced the amount of power that will be provided under the project, according to the Japan Embassy official Noboaki Yamada.
The power produced by the solar equipment will assist both Majuro Hospital and the Majuro community since it will feed power into the Majuro grid, helping the government’s utility company to reduce its reliance on diesel-fueled power.
The project resulted from consultations between Japanese officials and the Marshall Islands Energy Task Force as well as representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Resources and Development, said Yamada.
“The project was approved this month by Japan, and an agreement will be signed next month by representatives of both countries,” he said. A Japan International Cooperation Agency team will visit in December for further development of the plan, with a tender to be issued next year and start of construction work anticipated for 2011, said Yamada.
Japan’s Cool Earth Partnership was established in 2008 with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide release to the atmosphere by developing countries, while helping countries affected by climate change.
