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Small island developing states in the Pacific, including Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, contribute only 0.03% of global greenhouse emissions but are committed to achieving net zero by 2050 and 100% renewable energy by 2030. While deploying renewable energy projects faces significant challenges such as high costs, logistical issues, and legal setbacks, these islands have been progressing through blended finance, innovative solutions such as microgrids, and international funding.
Transitioning to renewable energy in these small island states offers numerous benefits beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These include increased energy security, reduced reliance on fuel imports, and insulation from fuel price volatility.
Significant utility-scale renewable investments have been made in wind, solar, and hydro energy throughout the region. These projects have become more feasible due to reduced technology costs, blended finance combining private and public resources, and strong political will to transition to renewable energy resources. For example, the total renewable energy capacity in the Pacific increased by 30% between 2014 and 2022. These small island states have committed to increasing their overall capacity of renewable energy and embarking on larger-scale projects.
Despite the benefits, there are several challenges in rolling out renewable energy projects in Pacific small island developing states. The cost-effectiveness of these projects is often a barrier to mobilizing the resources needed to fund utility-scale renewable energy facilities. Their location leads to longer procurement timelines, additional logistics required, and high shipping costs, which hamper efforts to rationalize the costs of implementing projects. Additionally, adaptation needs are urgent, especially for vulnerable communities facing rising sea levels and recurrent cyclones.
For instance, a large-scale 42 MW wind farm valued at $100 million in American Samoa was shelved due to legal challenges. Similarly, a 19.75 MW wind turbine project in Fiji has been stalled pending the results of an investigation.
Despite these challenges, entire islands have become energy self-sufficient by installing renewable energy facilities. In American Samoa, a 1.4 MW microgrid solar facility on the island of Ta’u was used as a proof of concept for low-carbon energy self-sufficiency. In Tokelau, diesel imports were reduced by 80% upon shifting to renewable energy, primarily through the installation of 45 kW solar plants on three atolls, funded by the New Zealand Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Utility-sized projects aiming to support the transition to 100% renewable energy resources have been developed. These include a $20.8 million solar and battery energy storage system in Palau and the $241.9 million Tina River Hydropower Development Project in the Solomon Islands. The Palau solar project, which includes a 15.28 MW solar facility and a 12.9 MW battery energy storage system, is currently the largest solar and storage project in the Western Pacific.
The Tina hydropower project will contribute 49,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year and mitigate an estimated 2.48 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over 50 years. The project was approved by the Green Climate Fund in 2017 and combines a $70 million loan and $16 million grant with additional co-financing from the Asian Development Bank, the Economic Development and Cooperation Fund of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the World Bank, and the government of Australia.
These projects will contribute 30.28 MW of low-carbon electricity generation capacity in the region. Both Palau and the Solomon Islands have historically relied on fuel imports and have committed to decarbonizing the energy sector.
An analysis of the costs of transitioning Pacific small island developing states to 100% renewable energy resources has estimated that eight Pacific Island countries can meet their energy demand requirements through investments totaling $691 million to $1 billion. Despite their small size compared with other investments in the wider Asia Pacific, these initiatives have the potential to achieve structural transformation of smaller emerging economies in the Pacific.
The growing adoption of renewable energy in the region is accelerating partly due to increasingly ambitious large-scale projects.
Fewer greenhouse gas emissions are just one outcome of the region’s large-scale deployment of renewable energy. From increased energy security to decreased vulnerability to fuel import price fluctuations, the benefits to Pacific small island developing states are numerous.
This article is edited from weforum.org by Michelle DeFreese.
