Project Development

Tina Hydro gets the green light

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In a historic moment for the Solomon Islands, the Tina River Hydropower Development Project has overcome its last major hurdle before construction can finally commence on the much-anticipated SBD1.5 billion renewable energy project. It has been a long and challenging journey for the flagship project with the preparatory and planning phase spanning over a decade. After a year of drafting by the Project’s holding company Tina Hydro Ltd. (THL) and its construction partner Hyundai Engineering Company (HEC), Environmental and Social Safeguard Management Plans (ESMPs) were approved by financiers last week, overcoming the last major hurdle before work can finally commence. With …

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Pre employment training commences for communities in the Tina River Catchment

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Last Monday morning after months of preparations, the first group of 30 participants joined the Community Benefit Sharing team from the Tina River Hydropower Development Project Office and facilitators from Pasifiki HR for a weeklong Pre Employment Training (PET) program. The Human Resource initiative is a component of the Community Benefit Sharing Project designed to support the members of communities in the project area in accessing employment opportunities to be created by Tina River Hydropower Development Project. The inaugural group, made up of 15 men and 15 women, were selected from a database of 700 plus people identified in the …

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Community water supply soon to be flowing from Tina

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The Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) team are out in the community this week initiating preparations for the construction of water supply systems under component 2a of the program. It is the final preparation work required before actual construction begins on this element of the Community Benefit Sharing Project worth an estimated SBD $6 million. This month several days will be spent in the communities updating residents on the agreed water designs and discussing any final community input. The team, including the CBSP community water engineer, a water consultant from the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification (MMERE) specialising …

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Community Benefit Sharing Focus – History in the making

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The Community Benefit Sharing Program (CBSP) is gearing up to roll out three significant programs in the first half of 2021. With its dedicated team working within the Tina River Hydropower Project, preparations have already started for a number of initiatives to provide early benefits to affected community members and to prepare for the main project benefit sharing components in later project stages. The first phase, which is happening now to coincide with the pre-construction stage, include pre-employment training, construction of a 11Kva transmission line and rural water sanitation system. With the support of global experts guiding the team, the CBSP …

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Tina River Project surveys locals for pre-employment Project training

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Local firm, Pasifiki HR conducting the survey and registration of eligible locals from the Tina River Hydropower Development Project catchment area.  Surveys and registrations are being conducted over the coming 2 weeks for eligible locals from villages in the Tina River Hydropower Project catchment to create a database of those employment opportunities on the nation building renewable energy project. A total of 300 people will be targeted by the Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) to be part of a pre-employment training starting next month, to help build local capacity to meet the demands of Project employment when construction begins. The initiative, …

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Training Empowers Women – Building skills for rural women in the Tina Hydro Project catchment

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Over 4 days, 90 women and girls from rural communities in the Tina River Hydropower Development Project catchment area participated in training designed to help them build essential job skills, be more job ready and have the ability to be a financial contributor in their family and community. The hands-on training covering 8 different skill sets was held in the Tina and Ngongoti villages in the Mbahomea region by the Project Office under the Gender Action Plan program. The training was focused on delivering a mix of livelihood and entrepreneurial activities covering cooking, sewing and machine repair, coral printing, tie-dye, baking, floral …

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Tina River Hydropower Project recognizes the contribution of local women on International Rural Women’s Day

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“As a woman, life in a rural community in the Solomon Islands can be hard. For me, I wake up early in the morning and walk for a long time and far distance to get to my farm. I need to get up that early in order to do my gardening work because it’s then that the heat is not as harsh from the sun.”   These are the words uttered by Christina Tony, a rural female farmer, as she stands in the middle of her garden in Areatakiki, a village in the Mbahomea Region, Central Guadalcanal. Her farm is located in …

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Tina River Project completes field surveys for the water supply community program

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In a major milestone for the Tina River Hydropower water supply program, critical field survey work for all communities in Bahomea, and Malango(Malatoha, Belaha), has now been completed with the project benefits set to positively impact approximately 5000 residents. It has taken three months for the Community Benefit Sharing Program (CBSP) team to complete the work on what will be the biggest water supply project installation undertaking of its kind in the country; with a multi-million-dollar investment focused on one region within Central Guadalcanal. The work to date has been guided by the initial WASH investment priority list produced in 2016 by the Tina River Project Office. This list was used to review the locations and come up with data that is now being applied to design and construct the actual water systems. The recent work …

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Tina River Project appoints HR firm to train locals ready for Project employment

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The Community Benefit Sharing Project (CBSP) is designed to enhance the positive impacts of the Project to the communities in the area by investing in basic services and infrastructure and to foster support and cooperation from the communities. Benefit-sharing is an approach adopted by the Project to promoting sustainable development for affected communities which extends beyond the life of the actual project. Under the Human Resource Development component of the CBSP, Pasifiki HR, who are a well-established and reputable firm based in Honiara, will meet this objective by helping members of communities in the Project area access training and employment opportunities created by TRHDP.

Solomon Islands’ Nation Building Hydropower Project wins Prestigious Industry Award

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The Tina River Hydro project, the nation’s first large utility-scale renewable project, has won a prestigious industry award and has been recognized as the Asia Pacific hydro deal of the year by IJ Global.The awards, which celebrate the best-in-class transactions and organisations in the international infrastructure and energy sectors across the world, have recognised the Project for its unique and innovative financial close achieved in 2019.   The awards recognised the monumental effort over more than a decade of the Solomon Island Government, working closely with the World Bank on studies and then the International Finance Corporation, to put together the …

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Australia Commits Additional SBD$1.9M Funding Towards Tina Hydro

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L-R: Fred Conning, Tina River Hydropower  Deputy Project Manager; Dentana Makini, PS, Ministry of Finance & Treasury; Dr. Lachlan Strahan, Australia High Commissioner; Bradly Tovosia – Minister of MMERE; Christopher Vehe, PS for MMERE and staff of Australia High Commission. (AHC Picture)  Australia has reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to the Tina River Hydropower Development Project by providing an additional SBD$1.9 million to support its Project Office. This builds on the AUD$28.8 million Australia has already provided to the Tina River Hydropower project through the World Bank to support the preparation and implementation phase. The additional funding will help the Office carry out …

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Community Benefit Sharing Water Supply and Sanitation Program on track to assist 5000 people in communities in Central Guadalcanal.

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RATE School in the Tina Catchment to benefit from the WASH programThe Water Supply and Sanitation Program is set to positively impact approximately 5000 people through improving access to safe potable water, better sanitation and hygiene in schools, clinics and communities through the Central Guadalcanal province.  Work on the WASH program is underway as one of the key initiatives being funded by the Japanese Social Development Fund under the Community Benefit Sharing Program (CBSP) for the Tina river Hydropower Development Project.   Programs like these are not uncommon in the wider Pacific region but it is a first of its kind for the Solomon …

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Tina Hydro delivers employing 31 locals in the first quarter of 2020

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Workers in action at the Tina River site.There are now 31 new members of the Tina Hydropower Development Project construction team as locals fill both skilled and unskilled labour positions. Supporting local communities in the Guadalcanal region with employment opportunities is a priority for the Solomon Island Government as preparations on the Hydropower Project continue with certainty in these unprecedentedly challenging times. Since Christmas, project construction partners Hyundai Engineering Company (HEC), have worked with the Project Office under the guidance of the Community Benefit Sharing Program (CBSP) team, to reach out to communities with employment opportunities. Positions are being filled by …

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Tina River Hydro Development enabling women through a Gender Action Plan

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Honiara, Solomon Islands. While life for most women in the Solomon Islands ambles along, there is a definite sense of change on the horizon as the country finds itself on the precipice of significant advancements in the lives of women and girls. Despite difficult and deep-rooted obstacles, optimism and opportunity is being embraced by ladies across the land. Working hard to enable this change and on eve of construction, the Tina River Hydropower Development (TRHPD) Project continues to work with women and their communities and on a Gender Action Plan. The plan is designed to promote equal opportunities for both …

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A boost for local employment – the Tina River Hydropower Project

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A boost for local employment - the Tina River Hydropower Project

Preparations for the construction of the access road to the Tina River Hydropower Development are now underway and with it, approximately 145 newly created jobs for the local community will be available. Advertising to recruit local residents to fill these jobs has commenced and people are being urged to apply to work on the nation building infrastructure project.  The positions are posed to provide those keen on a career in construction, valuable training and experience. The project, which is due to be completed and commissioned in 2024, will employee approximately 145 locals during the first phase of construction of the …

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Tina River Hydropower Project reaches financial close

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Tina River Hydropower Project reaches financial close

Financing packages for the Tina River Hydropower Development Project, estimated to reach US $240 million, have been finalised in Honiara. This major milestone for the 15-megawatt hydropower infrastructure project now clears the way for construction to commence late January 2020.  Six financing organisations have come together to make the vision for clean renewable energy and more affordable electricity, a reality for the government and its people.  The project is being financed through a combination of loans and grants; with a final cost for building the hydropower dam and station estimated at US$184 million. The total project cost is expected to reach …

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The Tina River Hydropower Project is on track for a Royal visit

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Tina River Hydropower Project on track for Royal visit

The serious environmental problems currently facing Solomon Islanders will be high on the agenda when His Royal Highness Prince of Wales Prince Charles makes his first-ever visit to the Solomon Islands on November 24th and 25th. In a two-day visit, Prince Charles will meet with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and other leaders in Honiara who will discuss, amongst other things, the consequences of climate change on island life. With a focus on solutions for the future, the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) will brief his Royal Highness on their commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the Tina River …

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