Clean Energy Partnership Launched for Island Nations

July 24, 2008

The United States and New Zealand have launched the International Partnership for Energy Development in Island Nations (EDIN), which aims to further the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in island nations and territories. Alexander Karsner, DOE's assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and Roy Ferguson, New Zealand's ambassador to the United States, signed terms of reference for the partnership on July 24. EDIN will work with island nations and territories on a project-by-project basis to help them develop clean energy technologies, policies, and financing mechanisms. The partnership will focus on deploying the maximum amount of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies possible to achieve specific, measurable clean energy targets.

Although the United States and New Zealand are currently the only participants in EDIN, other nations with inhabited islands will be invited to join EDIN at the discretion of EDIN's Steering Committee, based on a demonstrated commitment to clean energy as expressed by their laws and policies. And while the United States is hardly an island nation, its states and territories include a number of islands and island chains, the most populated being the Hawaiian islands. The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, launched in January, aims to meet 70% of Hawaii's energy needs with clean energy by 2030. See the DOE press release and the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative page on the EERE Web site.