A hydropower plant in the Federated States of Micronesia has been refurbished to help supply energy to Pohnpei after six years of being out of service.
The project's team leader from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Rupeni (ru-penny) Mario, says the Nanpil plant's refurbishment included improving the head pond, powerhouse, and penstop.
He says since being re-opened in June, the plant has generated 138,000 kilowatts, the same amount of power which would have been generated by 38,300 litres of diesel.
"Ongoing monitoring is happening at the moment. At the end of the day, we would like to document how much the utility has saved in terms of diesel, looking at whether this additional power into the grid has improved the reliability of power supply in Pohnpei."
Rupeni Mario says FSM has a renewable energy target of 30 percent and reducing consumption by 50 percent by 2020.
He says given the current momentum of renewable energy projects and funding in the pipeline, the FSM is on track to meet these targets.
