Ovalau Agrivoltaics, Fiji: 200 kW-class pilot completed, 4 MW in development

An agrivoltaic project at Bureta on Ovalau Island, Fiji, developed under ENVELOPS’s lead. Through KOICA’s GCF project identification programme (2018), a KEITI pre-feasibility study (2019) and KOICA’s funding-proposal support (2019–2020), the project was approved by the Green Climate Fund Board in August 2020 (B.26, SAP016). In 2023 a 200 kW-class agrivoltaic pilot plant was completed on the site under a Korea Energy Agency demonstration programme, trialling eggplant and other tropical crops beneath the panels.

Pilot results (2023–2024)

The 200 kWp pilot plant (3,375 m², 45 m × 75 m) shades about 60% on average, more than twice the Korean threshold of 30%. Eight crops were grown in 36 plots (randomised blocks, 3–5 replicates) alongside open-field controls: lettuce, cucumber and taro survived at 94–100%, chili and tomato grew but set no fruit, and mustard greens and napa cabbage died. Dry-matter yields were higher beneath the panels for lettuce, 1.56 vs 1.01 t/ha (+54%), and taro, 1.23 vs 1.08 t/ha (+14%), while long bean and cucumber fell by 76%. Fresh lettuce yield beneath the panels, 31.2 t/ha, was about four times the Fiji average of 8 t/ha.

A crop model calibrated on the measurements (APEX, R² 0.997) showed the cooler dry season (April–July) suited every vegetable best, and on the 4 MWp site (about 7 ha) taro and lettuce gave the highest farm income. The Agricultural Marketing Authority of Fiji bought the produce in 2023–2024, and local village farmers run the whole cycle from tillage to transplanting, irrigation, pest control and drainage. Source: Kim, Yoon & Kim (2026), Agronomy 16(8):831.

Current status

The 4 MW main project is in development. The local project company OAS (Ovalau Agrosolar) signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with the national utility Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) in November 2023, KOICA is funding the battery storage, and financing is being arranged with the Fiji Development Bank (FDB). The GCF is no longer involved in the project. Final plant size and the commercial operation date are being settled with EFL and KOICA.