‘Geothermal an expensive undertaking’

[B]APIA, Samoa[/B]—Geothermal energy, something CNMI officials have expressed interest in pursuing, has a lot of potential, but initial assessments are extensive and can costs millions of dollars, compared to other renewable sources, with assessments in the thousands, a leading researcher at the Pacific Climate Roundtable said yesterday.

“For geothermal, costs can number up to the millions. You need an interested investor to confirm there is geothermal energy there,” said Solomone Fifita from the Pacific Island Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Removable Energy, PIGGAREP.

The Department of the Interior gave the CNMI a grant to assess the potential for geothermal energy in the islands. The amount of money for the grant was not available at press time.

The Pacific islands have the highest renewable energy potential per capita, and renewable energy is the most cost-effective source for many areas in the Pacific, Fifita said.

“People must have modern electricity or energy in order to develop socially and economically,” he added.

Several Pacific island countries have set renewable energy targets. By 2011 Fiji hopes to have renewable energy in their power utility. Samoa hopes to have 20 percent of its power production from a renewable source by 2030. And by 2010 Tonga hopes 40 to 50 percent of its energy will be from a renewable source.

“Tonga better get moving. It’s only two years now, and I know they’re at zero right now,” Fifita said.

Under CNMI public law, renewable energy must constitute at least 10 percent of the total energy produced by the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. by the end of 2008. From then on, the standard would double every two years, until it reaches 80 percent in 2014.

Eleven countries in the Pacific are taking part in PIGGAREP, which aims by June 2012 to remove the barriers to widespread utilization of renewable energy. The Global Environment Facility provided $5.23 million for the project. CNMI is not one of the areas taking part, although depending on funding sources the Commonwealth can be eligible, Fifita said.

Thomas Jensen from the United Nations Development Program said people don’t tend to think about the consequences of energy until it’s too later.

“Energy is not a sexy issue,” he said. “It’s only when you see the power bill…that you notice.”

“The point we have to get across is we need to be proactive,” he added. “We can’t do anything without energy. You need it to run hospitals and schools.”

Now officials are thinking about renewable energy.

“People are very good at listening when the price of oil is $140 per barrel,” he said. “Normally we have to knock on their doors.”

For example, he said, hydropower is three times cheaper than power generation in Samoa.