The Korea International Cooperation Agency(KOICA) plans to build a solar power plant in Fiji, which is struggling due to the effects of climate change. 

The agency said Wednesday that it signed a deal on the plant construction with Energy Fiji Limited and builder Clay Energy in a virtual ceremony based in Suva on Tuesday. 

The latest project is part of KOICA’s venture launched in 2018 to boost the capacity of renewable energy in the Melanesia region which includes Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

KOICA will inject three million dollars to complete construction of the solar power plant on Fiji’s third-largest island of Taveuni by the first half of next year. 

In a recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that islands in the South Pacific could completely disappear in the 21st century due to rising sea levels resulting from climate change. 

More than 14 percent of Fiji’s gross domestic product is reliant on fossil fuels. The island nation is aiming to expand renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gases to respond to climate change.