The Fiji archipelago is at the crossroads of the South Pacific. Along with its pristine tropical beauty, the island of Viti levu offers several large towns and the bustling capital of Suvu, making Fiji a central hub of the exotic South Pacific.

Fiji has made a commitment to trying to become 100% renewables-based with the support of the local utility. The GSEII consortium will be working on a prefeasibility study for a bio-diesel facility using coconuts as the feedstock, whereby Caterpillar is providing a 30 MW power plant and the Government of Fiji is to provide the fuel. This study would also look at related economic and productive applications associated with the plan.

GSEII Projects in Fiji

Coconut Bio-diesel, 30 MW Power Plant

The Government of Fiji is strongly committed to development of renewables on the island, striving for 100% use of renewable energy for in-country use (excluding jet fuel) by 2015. This can only be accomplished if liquid fuels are produced from local biomass. With the establishment of a government biofuels program in the fall of 2005, GSEII and the Government of Fiji have been making progress developing this tehnology, which complements the island's resource base with the lifestyles of its citizens.

The GSEII consortium is working on a pre-feasibility study for a bio-diesel facility using coconuts as the feedstock, whereby Caterpillar will provide a 30 MW power plant and the Government of Fiji will supply the fuel. This study also looks at related economic and productive applications associated with the plan.

The project involves the use of coco-diesel fuels in large diesel generators on Fiji’s two main islands. This project would serve as a pilot for larger bio-diesel initiatives in other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to be conducted under GSEII, in partnership with Caterpillar and others, including the private sector and foundations.

An associated objective of the project is to assess the potential for wider use of coconut-derived products for economically productive and environmentally responsible management in the rural environment. Coco-diesel can be used for both small engine/generator mini-grids and for transport (as well as for construction equipment such as earth movers).

A potentially important product of coconut husks is "geotextiles", mats that are woven from fibers drawn from the coconut husk. Such geotextile mats are excellent media for restoration of eroded hillsides and riverbanks, and are also being used for mangrove restoration. The success and expansion of a program that empowers rural Philippine women by providing them regular income from the weaving of these mats may provide a model for similar rural enterprise development in Fiji. This is very important to the Government of Fiji because of the high level of rural unemployment, the increasing emphasis on empowering rural women, and the expansion of both decentralized energy services and enterprise to rural areas.

Coco-diesel Project Details (PDF, 67 KB)

 

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