Wednesday 5 June 2013

Indonesian island aims to rely solely on renewables

An island in eastern Indonesia is on its way to being powered solely by renewable energy sources, thanks to a $1 million (£0.65m) loan.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will provide technical assistance to increase renewable energy access in the island of Sumba.

The 'Iconic Island' initiative, started by international development organisation Hivos, aims to help the island generate 100% of its energy from renewables as currently only two small grids, powered by diesel generators, irregularly supply about a quarter of the Sumba population with electricity.

The project is believed to have received wide support from stakeholders, marked with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2011.

Dadan Kusdiana, Director of Bio-energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said: “ADB’s support provides an important milestone to the continuous effort of different stakeholders who thus far have already made some progress... We specifically expect the resulting projects to be commercially sustainable and attract independent funding, making Sumba an example for similar projects in other parts of Indonesia and beyond.”

The ADB also recently provided two loans for Papua New Guinea to increase energy supply in the nation and $30 million (£19.25m) for clean energy projects in India.

Located in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, the island of Sumba has a population of over 600,000 people.