Cook Islands : Renewable Energy Project

Energy / Energy efficiency and conservation

The proposed project will assist the government's efforts to reduce the country's heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels for power generation. By providing a secure, sustainable and environmentally-sound source of electricity for private and commercial consumers, it will implement a package of solar photovoltaic power connected to the existing power distribution networks and a package of solar photovoltaic power off-grid totaling about 6 MWp of capacity

The impact of the project will be reduction of the Cook Islands' dependence on imported diesel for power generation. The outcome will be that customers within the project area have access to a higher share of electricity generated by solar power. The outputs will include (i) The Office of the Energy Commissioner implements 6 MW of solar power capacity in the project area; (ii) Operation and maintenance knowledge transfer program and (iii) Efficient project management services.

Diesel is mainly consumed for generation of electricity, gasoline for land transportation, and kerosene for aviation and home consumption. In 2011, around 12.7 million liters of diesel (7.2 million liters used for generation of electricity), 4.2 million liters of petrol, and 9.7 million liters of kerosene were imported into the country. The total fuel import bill of the Cook Islands in 2011 was $58 million or about 28% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) of $210 million. Diesel-powered generators constitute about 99% of the total electricity generating capacity. Energy costs are currently among the highest in the Pacific, therefore replacement of conventional power generation sources is needed to reduce costs to businesses to allow them to operate within an internationally competitive and cost-sensitive environment.

The total installed, power generation and distribution assets in the Cook Islands is 11.75 MW capacity (99% diesel, and 1% renewable) with a power distribution network comprising 80 kilometers (km) of 11kV underground cables and 200 km of 0.415 kV low voltage distribution lines. The whole power system generated 33.846 gigawatt hour (GWh) of electricity in 2011. In the major islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki nearly 99% of all households are grid connected, 8% had additional solar photovoltaic home systems (SHS), and 3% used small diesel generators as well. In the outer islands, about 60% of households are grid connected, and 43% have a SHS