BBC News, 7
November 2012
Related
Stories
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| Solar energy is to replace diesel to power Tokelau's electricity |
Tokelau has
become the first territory able to meet all its electricity needs with solar
power, officials say.
The South
Pacific territory - comprising the three atolls of Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo
- had been dependent on diesel to generate electricity.
New
Zealand, which administers Tokelau, funded a $7m (£4.3m) solar project.
Solar grids
were constructed on the three atolls, with the last completed earlier this
week.
"The
Tokelau Renewable Energy Project is a world first. Tokelau's three main atolls
now have enough solar capacity, on average, to meet electricity needs," NewZealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said in a statement.
"Until
now, Tokelau has been 100% dependent upon diesel for electricity generation,
with heavy economic and environmental costs," he added.
Project
co-ordinator Mike Basset-Smith said that the move represented a "milestone
of huge importance" for Tokelau, as it would now be able to spend more on
social welfare.
The remote
islands of Tokelau lie between New Zealand and Hawaii.
Most of the
1,500 islanders live by subsistence farming, with thousands of others choosing
to settle in New Zealand or neighbouring Samoa.
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| Location of Tokelau |
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