The proposed Namosi hydroelectric project — a run-of-river development on Viti Levu valued at US$150 million (about FJ$330.9 million) — will be financed entirely by its Chinese owners, Nantai, and developed as an independent power producer, HydroFiji Pty Ltd has confirmed. HydroFiji’s Fiji-based vehicle Hydro VL signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) last week that secures EFL as the sole purchaser of the project’s output once online.
HydroFiji’s executive chairman, Dr van der Riet, told the Fiji Times that Nantai is currently committed to funding the entire project and that, while HydroFiji could arrange debt if needed, the owners are wealthy enough to proceed without external lending. “They’re wealthy companies and they can probably do it without debt if they want to,” he said, underlining the firm’s readiness to move the development forward under private financing.
The PPA includes a 12-month window to satisfy all conditions precedent. Over the next three to six months, HydroFiji must refresh the environmental impact assessment (EIA), re-establish landowner lease arrangements, and secure the remaining permits and approvals needed to meet the PPA’s milestones. Dr van der Riet said the company intends to complete those tasks within the 12-month period stipulated in the agreement.
When completed, the Namosi project is expected to deliver a combined installed capacity of 32 megawatts and generate roughly 120 gigawatt hours of clean electricity annually. EFL chief executive Fatiaki Gibson said the agreement strengthens national energy security and accelerates Fiji’s transition to renewables. “In today’s world, energy resilience is not optional, it is essential,” Gibson said, urging local communities in Namosi to support the development and take part in national economic gains.
Construction work has been contracted to Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), formerly known as Sinohydro Corporation — the firm that built the Nadarivatu hydro project about 15 years ago. Dr van der Riet outlined the scale of the engineering programme: tunnels, pipelines, heavy machinery to be manufactured and shipped to site, and new transmission lines — all to be managed under the POWERCHINA contract.
HydroFiji and EFL highlight local job creation as an immediate benefit, with demand for both skilled and unskilled labour across pre-construction, civil works and installation phases. The project, structured as an IPP with all output sold to EFL, also fits Fiji’s broader push to increase domestic renewable energy supply and reduce dependence on imported fuels — a point both Dr van der Riet and Mr Gibson referenced as strategically important amid global uncertainties.
Next steps are administrative and consultative: updating the EIA, securing landowner lease transfers back to local names, and obtaining regulatory approvals within the PPA’s timeframe. If HydroFiji meets those conditions, the financing arrangement led by Nantai and the POWERCHINA construction contract position the Namosi scheme to move from planning into construction in the months ahead.