Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Tokelau reaches self-sufficiency with solar power

Posted at 01:37 on 29 October, 2012 UTC

The New Zealand company that helped install solar power systems in Tokelau says the atolls are now 100 percent solar powered.

Mt Maunganui’s PowerSmart says each of Tokelau’s three atolls now has its own solar electricity system which will supply enough electricity to exceed current requirements and allow Tokelau to meet its goal of being the first place that is using 100 percent renewable energy.

Tokelau, like much of the Pacific, had been dependent on increasingly expensive diesel generation.