Samoa adds second wind farm in bid to reach 100% renewables

Samoa’s commitment to 100 per cent renewable energy got a boost this week with the inking of a deal between
the island nation’s Electric Power Corporation and locally based Pacific Renewable Energy company to build a wind farm and hydro storage plant on Upolu island.

The finer details of the projects are unconfirmed, but reports suggest the new wind farm – the country’s second – will generate and supply 48 million units of electricity a year.

Samoa’s first wind farm – a 550kW project also on Upolu Island – was developed by UAE clean energy company Masdar and inaugurated in August last year.

The two turbine Vailoa Aleipata wind farm was the second renewables project to be completed under the $50 million UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund, managed by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development; the first being a 512kW solar PV installation in Tonga.

The new wind farm planned for Upolu, the island that is home to nearly 75 per cent of the Samoan population, is part of the EPC’s efforts to help achieve the government’s goal of 100 per cent renewable energy generation.

To this end, a 500kW solar system – installed by the Sun Pacific Energy at Samoa’s Faleolo Airport – was commissioned and connected to the grid last Friday, with a remaining 1,500kW to be completed soon.

EPC general manager Tologata Galumalemana Tile says a second solar company, Green Power Samoa is currently constructing its 2,000kW solar system at the same location, which is expected to be commissioned next month.