The Solomon Islands Energy Project (SISEP), which aims to assist the Solomon Islands Energy Agency (SIEA) in improving the supply and reliability of electricity to Solomon Islanders, has been making significant progress.
The project, which began on June 25 this year, has been provided with US$4 million in support from the World Bank to achieve its goals.A visiting World Bank energy team has been consulting with SIEA and discussing the project's progress and planning. The World Bank will be working with SIEA to make the agency's management more effective, improve its financial performance and increase the reliability of power.
The first step toward improving SIEA's management was taken in June of this year with the appointment of a new Commercialization Manager. Work towards achieving more reliable power in Solomon Islands has also begun with SISEP committing to a program that involves repairing generators, overhauling damaged generators, and allocating resources to reduce losses of power.
SISEP is one of three energy programs that the World Bank is supporting in Solomon Islands. Another project is the Sustainable Energy Finance Project, a regional initiative of the Global Environment Fund (GEF) being locally implemented by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands.
This program, launched in November, 2008, provides loans for sustainable energy technology, including solar PV equipment, pico-hydro generators and conversion kits to run generators off coconut oil. The program has US$507,000 in potential loans.
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