Gangga Island Resort & Spa has always tried to be as eco-friendly as possible, but has now made a huge leap towards sustainability. In partnership with renewable energy company Right People Renewable Energy (RPRE), Gangga Island is now equipped with a hybrid energy system. This will give the resort independence from the diesel generators that have been used to power the resort since it opened.

Awarded the “Energy Storage Project of the Year” in June 2019 in Seoul Korea at the Global Solar + Energy Storage (GSES) Awards, we’ve never been so proud to update you on the news from Gangga Island Resort & Spa.

The Hybrid Energy System at Gangga Island

The system being used at Gangga Island is made up of REC Solar Panels, Narada batteries, and cables from Keystone Cable. This system will allow the resort to harness the energy from the sun and also store excess in batteries to power the resort through the night.

The solar field was cleared earlier in the year ready for the panels to be placed. During this time 10 times the number of trees that were cleared have been planted through a tree-planting campaign with Eco-Business. This will easily offset the loss of the trees cleared as growing trees actually sequester more CO2 than mature ones.

Since November 8th, 2019 this system has been powering the resort almost all day. It does take some time to store enough energy to make the switch to 100% solar power, but each day it lasts a little bit longer. Hopefully it won’t be long until the batteries are storing enough power for the whole day and night.

A single generator will be kept for times of reduced sunshine and also if the resort is at full capacity. However, Gangga Island Resort & Spa will continue to look for alternative methods to supplement this deficit.

What this means for Gangga Island Resort & Spa

Changing over from diesel generators to solar energy means a massive reduction in the carbon footprint of the resort. RPRE estimate that over 20 years this project will avoid CO2 emissions of up to 2,009 tons. Thanks to less need for diesel, the resort’s boats will not have to make as many trips to the mainland and the risk of diesel spills is also reduced.

The knock-on effects of not running generators also means the air and water quality and noise pollution on the island is reduced and the marine environment is much improved. All of this aside, Gangga Island Resort & Spa are proud to contribute to a reduction of emissions globally!

Gangga’s Local Community

We’re also proud to say this new system at Gangga Island has provided project-based jobs for 15 local community members. These employees will earn a good wage and learn transferrable skills that could lead to great employment opportunities in the future. The niche market in which they are working is a fast-growing industry that they can really take advantage of.

At Gangga Island Resort & Spa and Lotus Hotels we constantly striving to reduce the carbon footprint of our resorts and won’t stop with this incredible solar power project. There are still plenty of changes to be made and we hope one day to say we are 100% carbon neutral resorts.