Climate Change Resilience
A new documentary film created through the Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy Project (PIGGAREP) documents the life-changing potential of 24 hour solar power for communities living in the remote islands of Tuvalu.
Earlier this year, PIGGAREP sent a small media crew to remote Tuvalu to capture the community response to new solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation units being installed on the islands of Nukufetau, Nukulaelae and Nui. These installations are equipped with batteries to ensure that, for the first time ever, electricity will be available 24 hours a day to the communities in these remote locations.
The solar PV power generation project has been made possible through a partnership between the Government of Tuvalu and the European Union, with additional support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) of New Zealand, the Government of Finland and PIGGAREP. PIGGAREP is funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Samoa, and executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Director of SPREP's Climate Change Division, Dr Netatua Pelesikoti, explains that one of the expected outcomes of PIGGAREP is increased awareness and knowledge about the benefits of renewable energy in the Pacific region:
"Embracing renewable energy is hugely beneficial to the economic and social wellbeing of people in the Pacific. Not only is solar readily available, it also decreases our dependence on the carbon economy. Equally well, in some areas of the world solar power holds the key to changing people's lives. In these remote islands of Tuvalu, for example, solar can provide communities with the services - such as the capacity to freeze food for future use or to have reading light available at night - which so many of us take for granted."
Ms Lizbeth Cullity, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Samoa Multi Country Office, says that the new documentary and publication will help to spread the news of Tuvalu's solar power success and encourage other nations to follow suit:
"Tuvalu is one of many Pacific island countries and territories that are walking the talk and leading by example by switching to environmentally friendly and sustainable electricity generation. It is hoped that the example being set in the Pacific island region will prove to other areas of the world that it can be done."
European Union Ambassador for the Pacific, Mr Andrew Jacobs explains that renewable energy is a key sector for European Union cooperation worldwide, but particularly in the Pacific:
"We're convinced that by providing renewable energy to the outer islands in countries such as Tuvalu we can really make a huge difference to sustainable green growth. Very often the energy that these locations have access to is diesel generated which costs a lot of money and is often only operational for a few hours a day. By bringing in solar panels we can provide electricity 24 hours a day and our experience has shown that this can fundamentally change people's lives."
On the ground in Tuvalu, Mr Mafalu Lotolua, General Manager of the Tuvalu Electricity Corporation has observed a strong swell of public support for the project:
"Tuvaluan communities in these outer islands are looking forward to the day when the ribbon is cut on these solar facilities. Presently they face so many interruptions and breakdowns with the diesel system. They cannot wait for remote Tuvalu to be powered up by solar!"
Click here to watch the 'Powering up remote Tuvalu through solar' documentary.
Click here to download the companion publication.
Earlier this year, PIGGAREP sent a small media crew to remote Tuvalu to capture the community response to new solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation units being installed on the islands of Nukufetau, Nukulaelae and Nui. These installations are equipped with batteries to ensure that, for the first time ever, electricity will be available 24 hours a day to the communities in these remote locations.
The solar PV power generation project has been made possible through a partnership between the Government of Tuvalu and the European Union, with additional support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) of New Zealand, the Government of Finland and PIGGAREP. PIGGAREP is funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Samoa, and executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Director of SPREP's Climate Change Division, Dr Netatua Pelesikoti, explains that one of the expected outcomes of PIGGAREP is increased awareness and knowledge about the benefits of renewable energy in the Pacific region:
"Embracing renewable energy is hugely beneficial to the economic and social wellbeing of people in the Pacific. Not only is solar readily available, it also decreases our dependence on the carbon economy. Equally well, in some areas of the world solar power holds the key to changing people's lives. In these remote islands of Tuvalu, for example, solar can provide communities with the services - such as the capacity to freeze food for future use or to have reading light available at night - which so many of us take for granted."
Ms Lizbeth Cullity, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Samoa Multi Country Office, says that the new documentary and publication will help to spread the news of Tuvalu's solar power success and encourage other nations to follow suit:
"Tuvalu is one of many Pacific island countries and territories that are walking the talk and leading by example by switching to environmentally friendly and sustainable electricity generation. It is hoped that the example being set in the Pacific island region will prove to other areas of the world that it can be done."
European Union Ambassador for the Pacific, Mr Andrew Jacobs explains that renewable energy is a key sector for European Union cooperation worldwide, but particularly in the Pacific:
"We're convinced that by providing renewable energy to the outer islands in countries such as Tuvalu we can really make a huge difference to sustainable green growth. Very often the energy that these locations have access to is diesel generated which costs a lot of money and is often only operational for a few hours a day. By bringing in solar panels we can provide electricity 24 hours a day and our experience has shown that this can fundamentally change people's lives."
On the ground in Tuvalu, Mr Mafalu Lotolua, General Manager of the Tuvalu Electricity Corporation has observed a strong swell of public support for the project:
"Tuvaluan communities in these outer islands are looking forward to the day when the ribbon is cut on these solar facilities. Presently they face so many interruptions and breakdowns with the diesel system. They cannot wait for remote Tuvalu to be powered up by solar!"
Click here to watch the 'Powering up remote Tuvalu through solar' documentary.
Click here to download the companion publication.