Wedoany.com Report-Dec 05, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has commissioned a 500 kW solar rooftop project in Tuvalu’s capital, Funafuti, along with a 2 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

Tuvalu, an island country midway between Hawaii and Australia, has commissioned a new solar and storage project with the ADB, featuring a 500 kW on-grid solar rooftop array and a 2 MWh BESS in the capital, Funafuti.

“The project is under the Pacific Renewable Energy Investment Facility and has a $6 million support. It is ADB’s first for Tuvalu’s energy sector,” the ADB said in a statement. “The project also installed solar PV in the outer islands of Nui, Nukufetau, and Nukulaelae.”

A year ago, the ADB approved $7.8 million in additional financing for the Pacific’s first near-shore marine floating solar (FPV) system at Funafuti’s Te Namo Lagoon. The project – co-financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Ireland Trust Fund for climate resilience in small island states, and the UK’s Urban Resilience Trust Fund – aims to boost the region's renewable energy capacity.

“The project will provide clean and reliable electricity supply to the country’s capital and help achieve the government’s ambitious renewable energy targets,” the ADB said. “It is also improving the quality, reliability, and climate resilience of power service; reducing the country’s reliance on imported fuels for generation; and will eventually reduce the cost of generation by partially replacing diesel power with solar power.”