The Marshall Islands is a cluster of islands and atolls located in the Pacific Ocean, roughly halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
With a combined land area of approximately 70km2, the country has limited natural resources and relies heavily on foreign aid, with imports exceeding exports.

The Marshall Islands’ Energy Company (MEC) has embarked on a renewable energy programme to reduce its dependence on fossil fuel generation, a significant cost to the Country given its remote location. This renewable energy project, funded by the World Bank, involved the installation of solar panels on new canopy structures at various schools on the island of Majuro and the installation of floating solar panels on the island’s drinking water reservoir.

The school structures serve a dual purpose, to provide a structure to mount solar panels and to provide shade cover to the school’s playing fields or outdoor basketball courts. Likewise, the floating solar panels have been installed with the view of reducing the evaporation of precious potable drinking water.

Ergo has been involved in the project since 2020, acting as the Civil & Structural Owner’s Engineer on behalf of the World Bank and MEC. The construction contract is a design and build contract and is awarded to Chinese Consortium. Ergo’s role as Owner’s Engineer is to review the design documentation and ensure it complies with local building code requirements and industry best practice.

During the build phase, Ergo’s team of specialist Civil & Structural engineers were heavily involved in supporting the MEC with on-island construction supervision and monitoring, and supporting the construction team on site in resolving technical issues.