Solar power system for Rota Aquaponics underway

The Rota Mayor’s Office broke ground last July 22, 2022, for the installation of the Rota Aquaponics Solar Photovoltaic System at the Rota Aquaponic Education and Training Facility in Sinapalo. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The Rota Mayor’s Office broke ground last July 22, 2022, for the installation of the Rota Aquaponics Solar Photovoltaic System at the Rota Aquaponic Education and Training Facility in Sinapalo.

Funded by a grant from the DOI Office of Insular Affairs’ Energizing Insular Communities, the $153,000 solar energy system project has the capacity to power the current facility’s electrical load plus its expansion phases, especially as plans are underway to add additional fish ponds, planting beds and additional office units to support other agricultural-related programs under the Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the municipality, with the end goal of sustainability.

Office of Grants Management administrator Epiphanio E. Cabrera, Jr. expressed appreciation to OIA, Rota Mayor Efraim M. Atalig, Ivan Mereb, David M. Calvo of DLNR, Gus Maratita from the Aquaponics Facility, Thelma B. Inos from DPW’s Division of Energy and CNMI Energy Task Force for the great collaboration and patience with the project, which had started back in 2019. He also acknowledged OGM grants specialist Frankie F. Angel for preparing the grant proposal and for following up with the federal officials on the status of the permits.

According to OGM Cabrera, “much of the delay was due to setbacks caused by COVID-19 and the need to secure federal permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We weren’t able to proceed with the contract’s routing, despite going through the entire bidding process, because our office needed the Authorization to Proceed documentation from the federal grantor. The ATP document was received a month ago.”

Acting mayor Jonovan H. Lizama thanked OGM, the CNMI Office of the Governor, Division of Energy, and DLNR for their hard work on this project and welcomes more projects and funding to Rota to help its people and community. He highlighted the need for more collaboration with the central government to increase Rota’s economic potential.

Inos said that the system “is estimated to generate 36 kilowatts of direct current power, which is able to handle about 52,000 kilowatt hours annually. This translates to a savings of about $27,000 annually and $675,000 over the lifespan of the solar energy system at 25 years.”

The solar energy system project is scheduled to be completed within 138 days and will be integrated with the net metering system. This grid-tied system will be able to accommodate the entire load of the facility during the day and all other excess energy generated will be exported back to the electrical grid, crediting the aquaponics facility. The system will be installed under contract with Micronesia Renewable Energy Inc.

David M. Calvo, Rota’s DLNR resident director, expressed his appreciation to the CNMI Office of the Governor for its support to the island of Rota. “Thank you to the team that’s been collaborating with us…the team that always comes to Rota to give us a helping hand, the Governor’s Grants Office. I wish that they continue coming to Rota to support us in bringing in more ideas and funding…to continuously reach out and help our community.”

In a separate interview, Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres acknowledges the need to make electricity more affordable in the Commonwealth, “This new solar integrated system—quite possibly the first of its kind on Rota—will provide this educational and training facility an opportunity to expand its program and save on electricity in the long run.”

Torres said that more solar projects are coming to the CNMI, “and I thank the Rota leadership, the mayor, and Rota community for their patience as the government pursues on expanding the CNMI’s renewable energy portfolio with all stakeholders.” (PR)