ENERGY Fiji Limited’s Power Development Plan forecasts an investment of $2.4billion to meet the growing demand for energy over a 10-year period, says EFL CEO Hasmukh Patel.
While speaking at the Top Executive Conference in Nadi yesterday, Mr Patel said majority of the funding would be needed in developing power plants and transmission distribution.
“We have to ensure that we meet the capacity of the demand of our customers,” Mr Patel said.
“We have estimated that the funding required to develop both the power plants and the transmission and distribution network in order to meet the demands of our customers in about 10 years’ time stands at $2.4billion. “That is a huge sum of money. “Around $1.6billion will be required in the power-generation sector that is the power plants and around $800million is needed in the transmission and distribution side. “This development plan is reviewed every two years.”
He said one of the challenges the authority faced over the past years was the impact of climate change.
“The truth is we cannot tolerate this any more. “Every year we are getting cyclones and this year we had two cyclones. “Fortunately they did not cause much damage. Climate change is a threat and a reality. We know over the years the rise in global temperatures and how this is affecting the global community and our very own country.”
He said EFL was not immune to the damage caused by natural disasters and had been developing programs to ensure the authority remained resistant to the impact of climate change.
