13th March, 2020 The Chief Executive Officer for MEIDECC, Mr. Paula Pouvalu Ma’u and the General Manager for Infratec NETcon JV, Mr. Simon Jones signed a Tonga Renewable Energy Project (TREP)-03 Lot 2 contract worth equivalent to $9.5m USD, this morning at MEIDECC’s headquarters.
The contract elements include supplies of five independent solar power systems to the islands of;
- O’ua – 59kWp with 470kWh battery system (approx. USD1.15),
- Tungua – 71kWp with 580kWh battery system (approx. USD1.18),
- Kotu – 71kWp with 580kWh battery system (approx. USD1.18),
- Mo’unga’one – 50kWp with 390kWh battery system (approx. USD0.96),
- Niuafo’ou – 250kWp with 2.275MWh battery system (approx. USD5.04) independent minigrids.
Each of these power system will contain the villages’ level with a solar PV array, battery energy storage system (BESS), a distribution system and a house wiring/customer connections. The power systems will provide power 24/7 according to the island’s requests. The overall installation of the systems will be 100% solar renewable energy with no diesel generation required.
The Tonga Renewable Energy Project is co-financed by ADB, DFAT, Green Climate Fund, along with the contributions of the Government of Tonga and Tonga Power Ltd. The project aims to reduce Tonga’s dependency on imported fossil fuel for power generation and expand access to clean, resilient and affordable energy for the population of Tonga.
The Infratec NETcon design utilizes a Tesla integrated BESS powerpack solution and a combination of underground and overhead networks for the distribution system.
The project is set to begin on the third quarter of this year, 2020 for all systems to be commissioned on the second quarter of 2021.
ENDS
Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change & Communications