Power system resilience components of the Cyclone Gita Recovery Project in Tonga completed

Two key areas of the Cyclone Gita Recovery Project have been completed. ADB joined the Government of New Zealand and the Government of Tonga in culminating the milestone on 25 February.Tonga was hit majorly by Cyclone Gita in 2018 with Nuku’alofa suffering massive damage in all sectors, including an estimated $46 million to the energy sector. To help restore the network, ADB approved a grant of $6.8 million which—following consultation with the Government of Tonga and other donor partners—went toward the ongoing network upgrade already initiated by the Government of New Zealand under the Nuku’alofa Network Upgrade Project.The project consisted of restoring reliable access to the electricity supply network and building resilience of the network to extreme weather and disasters. Under the project, the entire electricity grid was divided into five work areas. The Government of New Zealand funded the upgrade of priority area 1, which covers the main urban center. ADB supported the network upgrade for priority area 2, which is just outside the urban center and has a concentration of industrial, commercial, and residential consumers.