Hélène Pelosse, Director-General of IRENA met with a delegation from the Kingdom of Tonga during Climate Week in New York. Tonga seeks advice on tailor-made policies to power its remote islands in a sustainable way – without turning to expensive grid-extensions.
A number of islands within the Kingdom of Tonga are lacking basic electricity supply. In view of the decreasing reliability of fossil fuel based generation, its increasing costs and negative environmental side-effects, renewable energy solutions have attracted the government’s attention. Together with Tonga, IRENA has charted out a renewable energy based strategy to power the main and outer islands alike. The strategy focuses on Solar Home Systems that turn individual households into small power plants. In addition, it calls for the involvement of local operators, finance institutions and technicians to provide sustainable business models as well as strategies to ensure the effective operation, management and maintenance once the systems are installed.
Ms. Pelosse underlines: “Renewables are the number one choice when it comes to powering isolated and remote regions and islands. Due to their decentralized nature, renewable energies can be accessed locally. They empower the inhabitants on each island to supply themselves autonomously with electricity.”
