Renewable energy in the Pacific Islands: Its role and status

• Published in: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews Vol. 94; pp. 762 - 771
• Main Author: Weir, Tony
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2018
• Subjects: Barriers; Pacific Islands; Renewable energy; Small island developing states; Solar electricity; Targets; SIDS; PV; Pacific Islands; SPC; Solar electricity; PNG; LED; Targets; PIC; Small island developing states; RE; Renewable energy; Barriers; SHS
• ISSN: 1364-0321; 1879-0690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.05.069

The small island developing states of the Pacific suffer from both the high cost of fossil fuel imports and from numerous climate-related disasters. These vulnerabilities will worsen unless there is a substantial global shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy (RE) sources, coupled with significant improvements in energy efficiency. Apart from traditional biomass-fuelled cooking, the most substantial uses of RE in the Pacific in 2016 were hydropower in some of the hillier island countries and the thousands of household photovoltaic (PV) systems in the remoter parts of island countries. This paper considers also the prospects for grid PV, geothermal, and biofuels – all of which have good technical potential in at least some islands. Barriers to wider use of RE in the region are mostly institutional and financial, but also include opportunity costs, environmental factors, and the limited skills base in small island states. The paper examines the mixed progress since the 1990s towards overcoming these barriers. The Fiji Electricity Authority has a reasonably realistic plan to have 81% of its supply from RE by 2020, drawing on hydropower (~ 50% in 2015), biomass (including bagasse), and some solar and wind. Tonga has its Renewable Energy Roadmap with clear milestones. Several other Pacific Island countries have ambitious RE targets but some are rather vague about how they are to be achieved.
•Use of renewable energy driven by cost of fuel imports and emissions.•Main uses in 2016 were hydropower and biomass for cooking.•Solar home systems (rural) and utility-scale photovoltaics both increasing.•Main barriers to wider use are institutional, financial, and limited skills base.•Ambitious targets for renewables will require financial and technical assistance.