CORE aims to increase human capacity through research activities, awareness and training to encourage the uptake of renewable energy and the use of energy efficiency & conservation strategies. PNG has abundant sources of energy, both renewable and non-renewable, however only a small percentage has access to modern forms of energy (electricity, transport fuels, heat, etc.). Energy access is critical to the socioeconomic development of any country including PNG, and thus the lack of energy has been credited as one of the major reasons PNG has not reached most of the targets of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. On top of the need for greater accessibility to modern forms of energy, PNG has a pristine environment that must be preserved. Therefore the best option to meet both these needs is to increase the uptake of renewable energy sources and decrease energy consumption by using energy efficient strategies. Therefore this Centre aims to increase research activities, awareness and training to encourage the uptake of renewable energy and the use of energy efficient strategies. This will be achieved through partnerships with relevant government actors, private sector, NGOs and donors. The vision of the Centre is “Improved livelihoods of the people of PNG and Pacific through ease of accessibility to clean, dependable and renewable energy”. The centre was set-up through funding from the a project known as “Renewable energy in Pacific islands: Developing Skills and Capacity (EPIC)” which is coordinated by African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group) under the EU funded-EDULINK II programme. This project is managed by the University of Alicante, Spain and implemented in the Pacific through the UPNG and University of Fiji with support from SPC.
