N.U.S TACKLES ELECTRICITY BILL VIA SOLAR ENERGY
By: Joshua Lafoa’i
The National University of Samoa (NUS) cost saving energy proposal to meet their electricity needs via solar power has received the green light from the Cabinet Development Committee to proceed.
In tabling the request, Vice Chancellor of NUS Prof. Aiono Alec Ekeroma assured the CDC that solar power is a viable and cost effective option which will tackle the NUS annual electricity bill of $1 million tala every year.
With a budget of $26 million tala from Government, Prof. Aiono notes that saving from solar power can be redirected to finance other priority needs.
“The University could save a lot more money if we were to start relying on renewable sources for energy,” Aiono added.
Presently, NUS’s electricity bill is in the neighborhood of $78,000 tala a month.
“About a million tala is spent from our budget to cater to power and electricity. We believe if we go to renewable energy solutions, we could save more from that one million spent,” reiterated the Vice Chancellor.
The University has already been taking measures to conserve energy. On Dark Fridays, all lights and air conditioning units are turned off for the day to save energy.
But the Vice Chancellor says that’s not going to cut it.
“Part of the reason we want to go renewable is to fully align ourselves with the goal of government to make Samoa fully renewable energy reliant by 2025.”
“The NUS campus consists of 46 acres, and about 15,000 square meters of roof surface spaces. So if we fill all the roofs at NUS with solar panels, we could save up to an estimated 50%,” he continued.
The Vice Chancellor says the estimated cost of the project would be $3million tala to be spent in a two to three year span to fully cover NUS with solar panels.
“If we are to go fully renewable at NUS, in the next five years or so, the University would just be making a profit and no more costs,” added the VC.
With the CDC endorsement, the next phase is to secure funding for the project to materialize.
