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Chapter 20
ECO-GEN Energy Solutions:
Tahiti Story
Cheryl Stephens
ECO-GEN Energy Inc., Van Nuys, CA, United States
Chapter Outline
Background 413 The JouleBox Power Station Plants
The Solution 414 Solution 417
The Technology 415 The JouleBox Power Station
Inside the JouleBox: How the Plants Solve All These Problems 418
JouleBox Power Station Works 416 The Tahiti Solution 419
References 419
BACKGROUND
Tahiti, French Polynesia, is an island in the South Pacific that many associate
with lovely vacations, volcanoes, black sandy beaches, French artist Paul
Gauguin, and tourism. With a population of 268,645 inhabitants (2012
census), it is divided into two major parts, consisting of 12 communes, with
the most populous one being the capital of Papeete. Tahiti imports its petro-
leum and has no local refinery or production (French Polynesia Population,
2014). The Pacific Islands are home to some of the countries that are most at
risk from the effects of climate change. French Polynesia, whose per capita
gross domestic product is the second highest among Pacific Islands, is also
above average in its per capita electricity consumption. Electricity per
inhabitant is 2468 (kWh). Tahiti has a goal of reducing its fossil fuel con-
sumption and shifting to renewable sources of electricity generation by 50%
¸
by 2020, yet it only had 26% in renewable energy in 2014 (Hourcourigaray
et al., 2014). Tourism is a $10 billion industry, and close to 200,000 visitors
annually visit Tahiti, which also creates a need for a solution for energy
consumption and efficiency at peak usage without surges (ADEME, 2014).
Distributed generation is of vital importance in these areas because they do
not have the infrastructure for large-scale transmission and distribution. Often
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