The village has a special committee that looks after the affairs of the copra production and subsequent oil production that are used to generate electricity in the biofuel generator.
Copra Biofuel Project
Coconut oil
is a local resource that is abundantly available
in Fiji and especially in the rural coastal communities.
While it has for years it has traditonally priovided
food and shelter, its is now being used to generate
electricity. This is through a specially designed generator
that utilizes coconut oil as its primary fuel source
90% - 95% of the total running time of the generator.
Two such communities that are greatly benefiting from the coconut biofuel programs are Lomaloma, Naqara and Sawana villages in Vanua Balavu and Welagi village in Taveuni. The projects were setup through DOE - Secretariat of the Pacific Community(SPC) cooperation and technology provided by CIRAD Fance through French Government funding.
The
Ministry of Agriculture (Taveuni Coconut Centre) and
Public Works Department(Electrical) were vital partners
in this project implementation and not to mention the
four villages that are now part of the project.
Yearly
inspections are carried out on the project sites for
repairs and training of technicians to run the generators.
Commissioned in July 2001, the 45kVA Welagi Copra Biofuel Project has ran trouble free since its implementation. This project serves a village with 58 households and oil production is through a small oil mill that was build as part of the project.
The village has a special
committee that looks after the affairs of the copra
production and subsequent oil production that are used
to generate electricity in the biofuel generator.
Lomaloma Copra
Biofuel Project
Commissioned in April 2000, the 90kVA Lomaloma Copra Biofuel Project serves three villages (Naqara, Sawana and Lomaloma). Since this is the administrative heart of Vanua Balavu, electricity is also supplied to two government schools, the Lomaloma Hospital and the Post Office along with 200 customers.
An
Electricity Committee formed by the three villages and
other consumers in the projects oversees the project
management. A power house operator and his assistant
are being paid to maintain the generator while a meter
reader has the task of billing consumers through readings
of individual kWh meters and another person collects
these bills. Thus four villagers are employed by the
Electricity Committee and their wages are paid through
the bills collected monthly.
Coconut
oil for this project is purchased from Savusavu in the
absence of a oil mill on the island. It is hoped in
future, an oil mill could be established here to enable
oil production through resources presently available
on the island.
Currently, all copra produced is
sent outside the island for processing.