Tina Hydro Project gains funding worth $670 million

The  Tina Hydro Project has cleared a massive hurdle, with the Solomon Islands Government confirming it has banked cornerstone finance worth $US86 million ($670 million) from the Green Climate Fund.

The Deputy Prime Minister Manasseh Maelanga announced the funding over the weekend, with formal approval granted at the 16th meeting of the GCF Board in South Korea.

Mr Maelanga said with the GCF funding now approved, a total of $101 million USD was now formally secured by the SIG for the project  in the form of both grants and concessional loans, with a minimum of $65 million in additional funding, which has also gained preliminary approval and though subject to pre-conditions, progressively made available over the coming months from various financial institutions.

They include the World Bank, South Korea’s Economic Development Corporation Fund and the Asian Development Bank.

He said the Government aimed to have all financing and administrative requirements in place by October 2017 so construction of the Tina Hydro project could commence immediately after.

When built, the Tina Hydro project will provide access to renewable energy for more than 100,000 people in the greater Honiara region.

It and has been under preparation since 2011 with donor support primarily from Australia and the World Bank.

Tina Hydro is also the priority project for the Solomon Islands sustainable national development as it is expected to offset 100 per cent of the national determined contributions to climate emissions by 2025.

The Hydro project will provide more than 200 jobs during construction and once complete will offset more than 44,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum in diesel emissions.