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Kiribati: South Tarawa Renewable Energy Project (EIA Report)


The Government of Kiribati (the government), through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MFED), has requested support from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other financiers to reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports by increasing the renewable energy percentage of electricity generation. This is to be implemented through three actions: a PV plus storage facility, a new energy act and enabling framework, and a capacity building programme in renewable energy. The PUB will be the implementing agency for the solar PV plant and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy (MISE) will implement the renewable energy enabling framework component. The PUB will establish a project management unit (PMU) and will be supported by a construction supervision consultant (CSC). 3. In 2019 a project preparatory technical assistance was undertaken and the feasibility study of a solar photo voltaic (PV) power plant located at the Bonriki Water Reserve, South Tarawa, was completed under the South Tarawa Renewable Energy Project (STREP). The reference design and bid documents for the detailed design and construction of a 5 MW1 / 13 MWh solar PV plant and batteries for energy storage, along with the controls and connections to the scheme to the Tarawa grid, will be completed in 2020. 4. According to the feasibility study the STREP solar project is expected to generate 6.845 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean electricity from solar PV and avoid 4,928 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2022. It will allow the South Tarawa grid to achieve 44.45 % renewable energy penetration, surpassing the Kiribati Integrated Energy Roadmap 2017-20252 target for South Tarawa, which is 23% renewable energy penetration by 2025. 5. The initial environmental examination provides the policy and legal framework, baseline environmental context, environmental assessment and proposed mitigation measures for the installation and operation of the solar PV panels, battery storage and ancillary facilities, and scopes the cumulative impacts of up to 10MW of ground-based solar energy generation at the Bonriki Water Reserve over the next 20+ years