The Cook Islands government hopes to increase the amount of renewable energy powering Rarotonga from 15 percent to 50 percent soon.
The Green Climate Fund, a United Nations fund to help developing countries adapt to climate change, has granted the Cook Islands $US12 million to expand the main island's energy grid.
The announcement is the first of a series of projects, which will be led by the Asia Development Bank, to expand renewable energy around the Pacific.
The Chief of Staff of the prime minister's office, Elizabeth Wright-Koteka, told Jamie Tahana the grid can't handle the current uptake of renewable energy, and the expansion will help solve that.
New Zealand Aid funded mini solar farm in the Cook Islands. Photo: RNZI/Sally Round
