Stakeholders during the land mark joint venture at Yees Cold Storage Seafoods Complex in Namaka, Nadi yesterday. Photo: WAISEA NASOKIA
By JYOTI PRATIBHA
A landmark joint-venture partnership has been entered into by three tokatoka (iTaukei family unit) and a private company to set up two power stations.
The power stations are expected to contribute 62,000 megawatts of power each to the national grid.
Delta Renewable Energy (Fiji) Limited (DRE) and Faith, Hope and Love cooperative sealed the deal at the Yees Cold Storage and Seafoods Complex in Nadi.
The cooperative which is made up of the Nakavadra, Buduka and Vunativi tokatoka will hold 49 per cent of shares in this joint venture, while 51 per cent will be held by DRE.
Ratu Meli Saukuru, who represented the three tokatoka, said this landmark venture would be beneficial to the landowning units and Fijians.
As part of the deal, the cooperative will provide some 50 acres of land for the two power stations.
One will be at Qeleloa Road in Nadi while the second would be built at Vuci South Road in Nausori.
$13 million will be invested in each of two the power stations.
DRE chief executive officer Steve Foley said some $26 million worth of capital spending will be done on infrastructure within Fiji.
District Officer Nadi Juita Waqavonovono said such a deal was also an eye opener for other landowning units in Fiji in that they too can partner up in such massive projects.
This would be one of the first times when a tokatoka has partnered in such a deal.
Ground breaking ceremony on both sites would be undertaken shortly and the two power stations are due to start selling power to the Fiji Electricity Authority in 2015.