Nabilah S
The private sector could bring in investments worth millions of dollars, especially in green energy.
At the 2023 National Economic Summit, this point was brought up by the Thematic Working Group on Energy and Electricity.
Katerina Syngellakis, who is in charge, says that the private sector has not done all that it could have.
She claims that energy is the engine that drives the economy and that the country cannot reach the expected GDP growth until the energy sector is addressed.
Every time the electricity goes out, the economy loses money, and our business is messed up. Because of this, it’s essential to upgrade the electricity and energy infrastructure and make it more resistant to climate change.
This is a challenging task because we’ve heard about all the limits on money. Still, the study shows that for every dollar we invest today, we’ll save $5 or even more in the future, especially when making the energy sector more resistant to climate change.
Syngellakis says that planning for the energy sector needs to happen nationally, with the government in charge and other people giving ideas.
She says that despite access to power, there are problems with the quality of service and the number of available hours.
It was also said that Fiji needs to catch up in technology in the energy industry.
The study group says that the Electricity Act needs to be changed as soon as possible because many laws support renewable energy. Still, the law doesn’t say anything about technology.
Syngellakis also says that in the last few years, not enough money has been put into the economy.
