Renewable Energy on Tuvalu

Historically, electricity has been generated by diesel generators – the cost of generation is approx. AUD0.90 per kWh, with 0.59 being the cost of diesel.  The retail price is between AUS0.30 and AUD0.56 per kWh for domestic use, and AUD0.56 per kWh for commercial and govt use.  Until 2013 the gap was largely funded by a Japanese govt grant.  The Tuvalu Electricity Corporation (TEC) ran at a loss of AUD1.28M in 2013.

In 2008 the Government of Tuvalu approved The National Energy Policy (TNEP) which includes the target of 100 percent Renewable Energy (RE) for power generation by 2020. The Master Plan for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (MPREEE), approved in 2013, included the same commitment. I guess this all provided a good basis for the govt to go out and negotiate with the various funding bodies to fulfill this commitment.

A pilot project was commissioned in 2007, sponsored by the E8 (the energy sub-committee of the G8), and funded by Kansai and the Japanese govt. This provided 40kW of solar panel generation connected to the grid.  It is installed above the grandstand of the sportsfield:

The panels feed into inverters housed in shipping containers, with some more panels over these containers:

This system is no longer operational.  The shipping containers have not stood the test of time well, and it is easy to blame this for the failure of the system – maybe they should have been stainless steel containers:

But I suspect the irrelevance of the system, supplying about 1% of the Fogafale island requirement, is also a major factor – it was probably difficult to measure any diesel saving.  (Fogafale is the island in the Funafuti atoll, which hosts the township of Funafuti.)  But it also interesting to see that this sports field, which has rugby posts on it, does not seem to be very well used.  Even although it is right next to the airfield, the locals prefer to use the airstrip for their daily sports, and none of the forms of rugby seem to be favoured here:

Two major solar electricity generation projects are currently in the final commissioning stages on Fogafale.  One, funded by  the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZMFAT), is on the roof of the main government building, and provides 170kW of solar panels feeding into the grid:

Another 350kW of solar panel arrays is being funded by MASDAR, a UAE govt company – these arrays are being installed next to the diesel generator station, and on the roof of a new workshop on that site:

NZMFAT has indicated that it may also install solar panels on the hospital roof and at the wharf; the combined capacity of these two systems would be approximately 130 kW.

None of these projects include battery storeage of electricity, and so none are aimed at replacing the diesel generators – they simply feed into the grid during sunlit hours, thus reducing the load on the diesel generators during these hours.  At this stage the diesel generators are still required 24 hours per day. Indeed, it would appear that much of the solar electricity generated will not be able to be used. The UAE have conducted energy-system modeling on their project, taking into account New Zealand’s planned projects. The modeling suggests that approximately 14 percent of the energy from their array will have to be rejected on weekdays and approximately 80 percent of the energy will have to be rejected on weekends due to system constraints.  (See below for further discussion of this issue.)

The outer islands have been prioritized in the strategy toward 100 percent renewable energy for the Tuvalu MPREEE, due to the escalating costs of transporting diesel fuel to these remote locations, and the relatively low electricity demands on these islands.  Seven islands have been identified for the installation of solar panel and battery systems, aimed at providing a 24 hour service for about 90% of the time – the diesel generators will be preserved to cover the emergency backup.

The EU are funding the installations on the three southern islands, Nukulaelae, Nukufetau, and Nui, and NZMFAT are funding the installations on the four northern islands, Nanumea, Nanumaga, Niutao and Vaitupu.  The aim is to have all of these remote island installations monitored by TEC on Fogafale, in order to facilitate timely maintenance, and maximize the uptime. These installations will dramatically decrease the cost and logistics of supplying diesel to the outer islands.  In addition, by providing a 24 hour electricity service to the islands, fire risk from the use of candles can be eliminated, and fridges will not defrost overnight.

So, with the outer islands largely meeting the 100 percent renewable energy target, the focus returns to the main island of Fogafale.  Time for the sound of trumpets, and The World Bank comes to the rescue, with funds of USD9.1M and a project starting on the 1^st April 2015, and running till 31^st March 2019.  It will consist of the following components:

Component 1. Renewable Energy Investments. Estimated Cost: USD 7.4 million

The design for this component appears to have the dual targets of eliminating the wasteage of solar electricity inherent  in the current system, and achieving a 40% useage of renewable energy (far short of the 2020 100% target).  There also appears to be an aim of adding wind power to the RE mix – it includes:

    a) Solar PV (about 925 kW)

    b) Wind-power generation (about 200 kW)

    c) Batteries, sufficient for the hybrid system’s storage requirements, including the expected energy spillovers from the New Zealand (NZ) and Masdar solar PV systems that are now being built without storage (see discussion above).

    d) A satellite-based communications system on Funafuti and  (the southern) three of the seven outer islands to enable TEC to remotely monitor, control, and improve the operation and maintenance of its hybrid power system and enhance customer service.

Component 2. Energy Efficiency (EE) Investments. Estimated Cost: USD 1.2 million. This component is aimed at reducing energy demand and improving TEC’s revenue collection – it includes:

    a) Supply and installation of prepayment meters for TEC consumers and smart meters for the largest electricity consumers;

    b) Supply and installation of selected EE investments, such as enhanced insulation in buildings to be selected by TEC in accordance with criteria agreed with the Bank, and replacement of inefficient lighting and appliances in said buildings;

     c) Development of policy, standards and labeling for EE; and

    d) Activities aimed at raising consumer awareness on EE and related capacity-building activities and training.

Component 3. Technical Assistance and Project Management Support. Estimated Cost: USD 0.5 million

This component will fund activities such as coordination, administration, technical operation, procurement, financial management, environmental and social management, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, training, and the support for mainstreaming of gender dimensions.

So that seems to be it – the outer islands maybe about 90% renewable energy, and Fogafale about 40% renewable by 2020.  The current plan of record – probably better than most of the rest of the world.