Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program for the Pacific (REEP)
Opening Remarks
by
Fernando Garcia
Principal Country Programs Specialist
Pacific Subregional Office
At the REEP Regional Workshop
Center of Appropriate Technology Development (CATD)
Nadave, Fiji
Honorable Minister Savenaca Draunidalo,
Ms. Cristelle Pratt, Director of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission
Colleagues from ADB’s member countries and partner organizations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning.
It is with a great pleasure that I welcome you to this Regional Workshop on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. Thank you for coming and contributing to making this workshop a great success.
Access to affordable energy services is an important prerequisite for economic development and poverty reduction. Affordable energy contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by facilitating access to safe water and efficient health and educational services as well as enabling private sector operations to generate employment.
As we all know, the cost of providing energy in the Pacific is extremely high as the consumers are dispersed and the domestic markets are small. The most remote outer island communities are left in the most disadvantaged position regarding energy supply due to their isolated locations.
In almost all PDMCs of ADB, renewable energy sources in the form of hydropower, wind, solar, biofuel and geothermal, promise potential to contribute to the energy supply. In fact, most of the islands are well endowed with a good renewable resource base. And therefore renewable energy technologies could be highly competitive with conventional energy.
However, structural, policy, and financial barriers exist to the development of clean and renewable energy technologies. These barriers include, for example -- subsidies on the use of fossil fuels, generally higher initial costs of renewable technologies, the problems of integration of energy efficiency services and renewable energy initiatives into traditional energy service markets.
In terms of ADB’s development services, financing is an important part of ADB’s support to renewables and energy efficiency across Asia and the Pacific. In addition, ADB’s contribution extends to policy advice and actions to eliminate the barriers, to introduce the right policy framework and financial tools, to enable renewables and energy efficiency achieve their potential.
One example of this is ADB’s regional program that combines funding from the Governments of Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands under the REACH Program – the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Program. One component of the REACH program is the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program for the Pacific or the REEP, financed by the Danish Government.
REEP began in early 2004 with a quick review of the status of renewable energy and energy efficiency conditions in the Pacific. Fiji Islands and Samoa were selected as the countries with promising initial opportunities to develop both renewable energy and energy efficiency on a commercial basis. The objective of REEP was to develop project proposals in renewable energy and energy efficiency in Fiji and in Samoa – that would be suitable for further development and financing.
For Samoa, proposals for biofuel and hydropower development in Upolu received endorsement for further evaluation.
In addition, REEP prepared a proposal for the region to support a concept called ‘Energy Efficiency Service Companies’ to assist the private sector develop affordable, practical and sustainable energy efficiency services.
The REEP project has been underway for over 2 years and is coming to a close. This final workshop represents an opportunity for the REEP consultants and the country teams to present the results of activities and pipeline of projects developed under this Program. The workshop offers an excellent opportunity to share experiences and lessons learned under the implementation of the REEP and a venue for exchanging information and knowledge on barriers and strategies on the institutional, policy, market, and financing issues in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector. With many of you well-known experts in the renewables sector as well as residents in the region and thus affected by the current energy supply issues, I see the workshop as a great opportunity to give the consultants direction for completing this program and making the final report a forward looking and a useful document.
The market for renewable energy and energy efficiency in Asia and the Pacific, and particularly in this region, is promising. We need to build upon the existing momentum to develop more of these projects for commercial financing. In this way, we can continue to help bridge the gap that exists today between the region's demand and supply of energy, and expand access to energy for the poor.
In closing, I would like to express my appreciation and thanks for the hard work of the implementing agencies – Fiji’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning and Samoa’s Treasury Department, the Steering Committee members, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), the Center for Appropriate Technology Development (CATD), BURGEAP team, and others involved in organization of this workshop. A special thanks to the Technical Center for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU for bringing the energy planners from each of the 14 countries to the workshop.
Likewise, I would like to thank all of you for participating and contributing to the workshop as well as the speakers for their valuable contributions.
I look forward to a report on the dynamic exchange of information and ideas, and intensive, constructive interactions in the next few days. I urge you to make workshop useful for moving forward. I am certain that this workshop experience will be enriching for us.
Thank you.
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