GFA announces completion of solar energy installation at ceremony

[August 8, 2024 – Harmon, Guam] Facility restoration and upgrades at the Guam Football Association National Training Center following last year’s devastating damage left by Typhoon Mawar is closer to completion with the full installation of a new solar energy system as revealed during a Thursday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony.

FIFA Development Officer Jun Chen delivers a speech during the Guam Football Association Solar Energy System Ribbon Cutting ceremony Thursday morning at the GFA National Training Center in Harmon. In the photo are, from left to right, FIFA Development Officer Jun Chen, Speaker Therese Terlaje, GFA Executive Committee member Duane Pahl, Vice Speaker Tina Muña-Barnes. The four delivered speeches during the ceremony.

“We are very fortunate to have the generous support of FIFA Foundation in our typhoon recovery efforts, which includes the installation of newer, more efficient solar energy panels at a capacity equivalent to the previous system,” said Duane Pahl, GFA Executive Committee member, during his speech at the ceremony. “We would also like to thank Pacific Solar and Photovoltaics for working through the summer months to complete this project. Their new system installed at GFA will provide monitoring and analysis software on production and energy consumption, which will ensure each panel is providing its maximum support.”

The new solar energy system at GFA consists of 264 solar panels with an anticipated production of 98.4 kilowatts of energy.

The ceremony was held on the second-floor lanai of the GFA National Training Centers’s Main Office building overseeing one set of solar panels installed on the roof of the facility’s front building.

“The FIFA Foundation is grateful to have had the opportunity to assist Guam in rebuilding its football infrastructure via the FIFA Foundation Recovery Programme,” said Mariana Banús, Head of FIFA Foundation Administration. “We have been diligently working with the Guam Football Association for over a year, making progress first with the re-introduction of youth leagues, and then rapidly progressing to the point where Guam was able to host a FIFA World Cup qualifier just months after the significant damage caused by Typhoon Mawar.”

In addition to Pahl, speaking at the event were FIFA Development Officer Jun Chen, and Government of Guam representatives Speaker Therese Terlaje and Vice Speaker Tina Muña-Barnes. The four were joined by Sen. Roy Quinata, GFA General Secretary Joe Cepeda, GFA Strategic Review Committee Chairman Chima Mbakwem, and Pacific Solar and Photovoltaic’s James Paek to officially cut the ribbon.