Power expensive: Bank

THE Pacific Island nations have some of the most expensive electricity prices in the world, according to International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group.
But there is a new partnership between IFC and Smart Commercial Solar (SCS) where Pacific businesses struggling with high energy costs can get help to evaluate more competitive options.
The first phase of the project will begin with a free energy report offered by SCS to businesses interested in calculating how much they can save if they switched to solar.
The report is targeted at commercial and industrial customers who pay commercial rates for electricity.
The report, accessed after filling in a small online survey, shows the savings a solar system will generate for an organisation.
Huon Hoogesteger, the chief executive officer of Smart Commercial Solar, said the Pacific solar campaign had a dual focus – supplying electricity users in the Pacific islands with information on how to reduce costs, and gathering data on the challenges businesses face and what assistance they might need in making the transition to solar.
“Solar panel prices have fallen 80 per cent since 2009 making solar electricity very competitive especially in the Pacific Islands which experience some of the most expensive electricity prices in the world,” he said in a statement.
IFC’s regional manager Pacific Tom Jacobs observed that despite the high cost, the Pacific had lagged behind in the use of renewable energy especially solar power.
“The aim of the research is to determine the barriers to solar development and increase commercial solar use throughout Pacific,” he said.