The Marshalls Energy Company has received a major boost with an 11 million US dollar injection through a new funding arrangement.
After the recent approval of a 9.5 million US dollar loan from the Asian Development Bank, the Marshalls Energy Company will swap a high-interest loan at the Bank of Guam for an eight-year payment holiday and a one percent interest rate with ADB.
The company's General Manager, David Paul, says this is coupled with an ADB grant of 1.7 million dollars to convert one of the utility's engines to use coconut oil biofuel.
The plan to start using a coconut oil-diesel biofuel mix in one engine next year is also expected to cut costs and expand the market for locally-produced coconut oil.
This is expected to stimulate an economy that has seen negative growth for the past two years and has an official unemployment rate of more than 30 percent.
