[ad_1]
Author: Olkeriil Eoghan Ngirudelsang
KOROR, Palau — President Soulanger Whipps said last week the government is struggling to manage the influx of solar power and asked neighboring countries to impose a moratorium on new solar projects.
“One of the first meetings we had was with the Japanese, Taiwanese and Australians to ask them to temporarily stop any other new solar projects because if we add new solar projects to the grid right now, we won’t be able to handle it,” Whipps said in a news release.
The president said the island nation faces challenges integrating renewable energy into its grid due to a lack of adequate battery storage. He said Australia has pledged $5 million to help Palau build battery capacity.
“There’s no doubt the idea (renewable energy) is great, but without 100 percent batteries, there’s a limit to how much energy we can absorb into the system through solar,” Whipps said.
The president said that despite earlier predictions that energy demand would increase, Palau’s electricity consumption has actually decreased. The island currently produces more solar energy than it consumes, resulting in wasted electricity.
Whipps announced at the Our Ocean Conference an ambitious goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy by 2032. The timeline is more aggressive than the 45 percent renewable energy target set by former President Tommy Remengesau Jr. for 2025.
In an effort to accelerate Palau’s transition to renewable energy, HPS has reached out to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, proposing a partnership to power all electric vehicle charging stations with solar energy by 2023. The letter has sparked a public debate, with some supporting the plan as a strategic move while others question its feasibility and relevance to ordinary Palauans’ concerns about high electricity bills.
related
[ad_2]
Source link
