The Asian Development Bank(ADB) has approved an $18 million loan and a $12 million grant to help Solomon Islands reduce the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuels for power generation through the Tina River Hydropower Project.
“This transformational project will support the development of renewable energy to supply electricity to the capital, Honiara,” said the Director General of ADB’s Pacific Department Ms. Carmela Locsin. “We look forward to working with our partners on this project to help Solomon Islands prepare for a renewable energy future.”
ADB joins other partners in supporting the Tina River Hydropower Project, including the Government of Australia, the Green Climate Fund, Abu Dhabi Development Fund, Export–Import Bank of Korea, and the World Bank Group.
The main aim of the project is to increase the generation of renewable energy on the Honiara grid. To achieve this, a 15-megawatt hydropower plant will be developed on the Tina River, just outside Honiara.
The project will be the largest public–private partnership project ever developed in Solomon Islands. A special project company, consisting of Korea Water Resources Corporation and Hyundai Engineering Corporation Limited, will be established to design, build, own, operate, and manage the plant. The company will undertake the construction of the hydropower facility through a build-operate-own-transfer scheme.
The $18 million loan will be sourced from ADB’s concessional ordinary capital resources. The $12 million grant will be provided from ADB’s Special Funds resources.
The Ministry of Finance and Treasury will be the executing agency and the Ministry of Mines, Energy, and Rural Electrification will be the implementing agency.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.6 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
Source: ADB