2. Ask an Expert
  3. Assistance Impacts

Financing Renewable Energy in Palau

The Clean Energy Solutions Center assisted the Government of Palau in response to requests from the Palau Energy Administration under the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce. Solutions Center experts provided support on several requests to aid in deployment of clean energy technologies in the country. The experts assisted by:

  1. Provided objective analysis through a review of draft regulations for independent power producers in the country, covering both solicited (i.e. tendered) and un-solicited bids. This review provided information to aid the government in finalizing the regulations and translating them into law.
  2. Helped to develop a tariff framework for solar PV projects developed by independent power producers (IPPs) and for projects developed by the national utility; the Palau Public Utilities Corporation. In conducting the analysis, Solutions Center experts considered alignment with Palau’s net-metering and net-billing policy and looked at a range of scenarios to better understand how reaching the country’s 45% renewable energy target would impact electricity rates for customers and cost impacts on the utility.
  3. Provided cost-benefit analysis of feed-in tariffs for power purchase agreements, delivering an overview of different cost ranges and the potential impacts of each. Each scenario evaluated data inputs based on resource quality, availability of concessional financing, and various project sizes in order to provide an indication of the impact of economies at scale.

Potential Impacts

Collectively, the assistance provided through the Solutions Center’s Ask an Expert Service could help the Government of Palau to achieve its goal of scaling the share of renewable energy to help them meet their goal of 20% by 2020 and 45% by 2025. Additionally, this objective analysis offers the government information to help them make decisions on how to develop and deliver cost-effective solar power to Palau residential and commercial customers and reduce its reliance on costly imported diesel fuel.