Pacific island country of Palau has welcomed the commissioning of its first large-scale solar-plus-storage project, representing the largest power plant of its kind in the Western Pacific region.

A solar-plus-storage project combining 300kW of PV and a 2MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) has been installed in the Polynesian archipelago nation of Tonga.

The first utility-scale battery project in Tonga officially opened today at an event attended by the South Pacific Kingdom’s prime minister.

ENGIE has pulled out of a large-scale solar-plus-storage project contract in the Western Pacific US island territory of Guam.

Microgrid projects on three different continents that include multiple megawatts of battery storage alongside renewable energy have been announced in the past few days from well-known industry players.

The French overseas territory of New Caledonia has hailed the switch-on of a 16MWp solar farm, with battery energy storage to be later attached, and another standalone 5MWh battery project as significant steps towards ‘100% renewable energy’ targets.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to part-fund a US$53.2 million undertaking to power Tonga with renewable energy, including the installation of 22.2MWh of energy storage.