| |
 |
| Representative from the Embassy of People's Republic of China, Sophie Tempy, Sarah Walsh, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, Hon. Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, Stephen Caldwell, Robert Matthews. 28 September 2016. |
| |
| The Tonga Police solar was officially commissioned by the Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni at a ceremony held at the national police headquarters in Longolongo. |
| |
| More than 30 delegates attended the celebration, including the New Zealand High Commissioner Her Excellency Mrs. Sarah Walsh and the Australian Acting High Commissioner Sophie Tempy, Minister of Police Hon. Dr. Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa and distinguished guests. |
| |
| The event marked the completion of the construction phase of the 225 kWh solar facility. The project was made possible by a funding grant from the New Zealand Aid Programme and the Government of Australia and the solar expertise of Reid Technology. |
| |
| Tonga Power Ltd’s CEO Robert Matthews said that the pilot program hoped to set a benchmark for future expansion of a national solar photo-voltaic distributive energy program that aims to feed energy harvested from the sun into the power grid. |
| |
| “This program will see a dual tariff in place with Tonga Police to encourage exporting of electricity from the 180kWh of battery storage onto the Tonga Power grid during peak demand". |
| |
| “The program was designed in mind that it had to provide a sufficient solar energy to offset the energy needs to Tonga Police stations and that the facility was selectively oversized to provide excess capacity with battery storage, among other thing". |
| |
| He adds, “This is an exciting project and I believe sets an excellent example and a significant leap towards the development of renewable energy forms of electricity generation in Tonga, which will hopefully encourage others to consider a similar approach to develop renewable energy projects in the future". |
| |
| In his remarks to the gathering the Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Sovaleni explained that the Government of Tonga intended to lessen carbon emissions by increasing electricity generation from renewable energy. |
| |
| Hon. Sovaleni said, “To help fight climate change, Tonga intends to reduce carbon emissions, as outlined in our National Determined Contribution, and we are committed to increasing our electricity generation from renewable energy to 50% by 2020 and 75% by 2030." |
| |
| “The solar project will enhance the operational capacity of Tonga Police through access to a reliable source of electricity, reduce operational costs, and contribute to Government’s efforts to reach 50% renewable generation by 2020”, he adds. |
| |
| Stephen Caldwell, Tonga Police Commissioner said the 225kWh system will not only enhance the operational capacity of Tonga Police through access to reliable source of electricity 24-hrs daily, seven-days a week but more importantly perhaps, it will also aid the Tongan Government’s priority to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuel through the use of renewable energy. |
| |
| Under the same fund, solar projects have also been developed and implemented at police stations in Mu’a, Vaini, Nukunuku. |
| |
| Ends |