The government’s objective is to ensure that the community experiences real benefits from the presence of the project in their territory at all stages of the project from development to operations,” says deputy prime minister Manasseh Maelanga.
He was speaking about the Tina Hydro power Development project Summit In Auckland, New Zealand.
Mr. Maelanga said that the unprecedented nature of Tina Hydro has therefore demanded an unprecedented approach of “Power through Partnership” to obtain and maintain ” the free prior and informed consent” of the indigenous landowning peoples of the Tina River region.
The Tina Hydro has had to take this Power through Partnership approach due to the unprecedented nature of the project.
The Deputy Prime Minister said:
“It is unprecedented in terms of size and duration, with an estimated project cost of more that USD$100m, and a project lifespan of at least 100 years”.
He continued: “It is unprecedented in that it involves the involvement of the private sector in an Independent Power Producer (IPP) and Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) basis:.
“It is unprecedented in the scale and distribution of the benefits to the country that we anticipate arising from it.
“It will produce sufficient power annually to boost the share of renewable energy in the national generation mix past 70% and will, through its catchment, protect more than 130 square kilometers of virgin mountain forest”.
Mr Maelanga confirmed that there are huge investment opportunities for interested potential Independent Power Producers to develop our renewable energy resources and sell power to the national utility under Power Purchases Agreements arrangements.”
He also confirmed that there are further opportunities for investments in power transmission components, renewable energy technology suppliers and related civil infrastructure construction contractors.
With this line up of these opportunities, Mr Maelanga concluded that the Government is committed to the ongoing formation of an effective and appropriated policy framework which is able to provide robust and stable support to ongoing growth of the renewable energy sector in the medium and long term.
The Deputy Prime Minister is accompanied by Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Mines and Energy, Rence Sore, Director of Energy , John Korinihona, Project Manager TRHDP, Mark France, Strategic Advisor TRHDP, Paul Roughan, General Manager SIEA Norman Nichols and Deputy General Manager SIEA, Martin Sam.