This Environmental and Social Safeguard monitoring report is conducted bi-annually to ensure that the Outer Island Renewable Energy Project is aligned with the ADB’s safeguard Policy Statement (SPS) and the Government of Tonga’s environmental laws and regulations. The objective is to identify and mitigate adverse environmental and social impacts, including protecting the rights of those likely to be affected or marginalized by the installations of 1.32Mp of solar PV power systems across 9 outer islands of Tonga.
OIREP is a joint funding of ADB and DFAT, EU, SDCF and GEF. It assists GOT to achieve the provision of 50% sustainable and environmentally friendly renewal energy from technologies such as solar photovoltaic power, battery energy storage systems and network distribution by 2022. Thus, contributes to the reduction of the dependency on oil and its price volatility while increasing the availability and affordability of electricity to the inhabitants of 9 outer islands across Tonga. The overall objective of OIREP is to construct an approximate 1.32 MWp of solar PV power systems across 9 outer islands of Tonga. Installations of both on-grid and mini-grid solar PV electrification assets are connected to a mixture of existing and newly constructed electricity distribution networks on the islands of ‘Eua, 4 Ha’apai outer islands, Vava’u and Niuatoputapu. In addition, the existing SHS on the island of Niuafo’ou is to be rehabilitated.
This report is the eleventh semi-annual safeguard monitoring report (SMR) for the Outer Island Renewable Energy Project as required by Asian Development Bank. The report covers the environmental and social aspects of the project for the period of July to December 2021. There are three phases that are currently ongoing, hence this report is to monitor safeguard aspects of those ongoing phases as follows; 1) Phase 2 – Mini-grid generation component of the project, 2) Phase 3 – On – grid network rehabilitation of the project,3) Phase 4 – Mini-grid network rehabilitation of the project. Site Inspection for environmental safeguards compliance and effective implementation of the project’s Gender Action Plan are the two main areas which this monitoring report is focused upon.