By Timothy Infiri Jr.
With recent findings shows that Solomon Islands has the world’s most expensive electricity cost, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) Honourable Jeremiah Manele has said that with going forward, the key focus of the Government is to invest in the renewable energy sector.
He said that in a joint press conference with the visiting New Zealand DPM Carmel Sepuloni.
“The Tina Hydro Project is ongoing [and] we hope in the next three or four years it will be open and help to reduce energy costs here in Honiara especially”.
“More similar hydro power projects are also needed especially out in all the provinces”, Manele adds.
He emphasizes that people will need to have access to cheaper renewable energy sources in order to realize and appreciate a good number of development goals and targets that comes along with it.
“We would like to explore collaboration cooperation with New Zealand as to how we can look at investment opportunities in the renewable energy sector especially the geothermal sector,” he said.
With New Zealand having more experience, capacity and capabilities in the geothermal sector, Hon. Manele says that he would like to see collaboration between the two countries.
Currently in the country with her 52-person delegation as part of their Pacific Mission to Solomon Islands, Tonga and Fiji, New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Affairs, Sepuloni says that New Zealand is supportive of the Solomon Islands government’s efforts to engage with more renewable energy.
“New Zealand is committed to continue working with the Solomon Islands Government. There’s a lot of work around it too, as we were discussing these regulatory work but from the conversations that we had it looks like the Solomon Islands government is well and truly underway with the work”, said Sepuloni.