The United Arab Emirates and New Zealand inaugurated a solar power plant in Solomon Islands, developed and deployed by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company and which will provide the Islands with 7% of its electricity needs,  The National reported.

As Emirates News Agency wrote, it “represents an innovative approach to development assistance, merging strong government-to-government partnership with commercial innovation.

The one-mega watt photo-voltaic solar plant was built with a $50m grant as part of the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund, supported by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and it is expected to offset 1,254 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions yearly.

Previously, 90% of the electricity produced in the country came from diesel generators located in the city of Honiara on Guadalcanal, one of the islands that make up Solomon Islands. The solar plant is expected to help save more than 454,469 litres of diesel fuel every year at a value of $577,176.