Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The American Samoa Power Authority has signed contracts for two multi-million-dollar renewable energy projects that promise to reduce the cost of electricity for Tutuila residents down to about 11-cents per kilowatt hour.

Speaking at the opening of the Fono, Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga provided a summary of some of the developments at ASPA, as part of the government’s economic development outlook for last year and moving forward.

“Going forward with electricity on Tutuila,” the governor said ASPA signed last November a contract with Canadian Solar to build 20-megawatts of solar generation.

Also last month, ASPA signed a contract with another company for a 42-megawatt wind power generating project, said Lolo, who didn’t identify the company.

ASPA acting executive director, Wallen Young is yet to respond to Samoa News questions emailed last Wednesday seeking information.

Young told a cabinet meeting last November that the PV solar project is estimated to cost $47 million while wind generation is about $100 million. He also explained the “financial model” used by ASPA for the two solar projects. Under the power purchasing agreement “the developer and the investor — they finance, they design, and they build the plant. And they also sell the production to ASPA,” he said.

When the two solar projects are completed, “ASPA’s purchasing cost of power from these investors will be around 11-cents a kilowatt hour,” he added.

The huge drop in the electric rate — from about 40-cents per kilowatt hour in 2013 — was cited by the governor in his Address, saying the two projects on Tutuila “will mean that consumers will pay 11-cents to 15-cents a kilowatt, reflecting a 50-percent drop; assuming 15-cents per kilowatt cost.”

“When the cost of electricity drops, the cost of water falls proportionately because electricity is used for the water distribution system,” said Lolo, who noted in his English written Address that the late ASPA executive director Utu Abe Malae “took to heart our original mandate  to bring the cost of our infrastructure down.”

And it all started with the solar powered initiatives on Manu’a and Utu’s “clean energy legacy is being continued at ASPA” with the two new projects on Tutuila,  the governor said.

For renewable projects in Manu’a, Lolo said Ta’u island is now 100% solar powered but the one on Ofu island is facing some issues that need to be addressed. He said there is no connection between the solar panels and the ASPA power facility, and ASPA has asked for 90-days to remedy the situation.

Regarding solid waste, Lolo explained that one of the biggest challenges now for ASG and ASPA is the lack of available land to further expand the landfill. And with the increase in the number of people on island, there is an increase in solid waste — which is becoming a very expensive issue.

According to the governor, the Futiga Landfill expansion project was completed in July 2018. It increased the life of the landfill by approximately 10 more years.

Lolo also gave a summary brief of other services, such as water and waste water. 

The governor reported that through the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency, ASPA will receive $12 million in federal funds to continue efforts to improve the quality of the water consumed by residents.

Further, through the federal government’s New Market Tax Credit Program, ASPA will have access to $10 million water system improvements.