Fuelling the Pacific: Aid for renewable energy across Pacific Island countries

Betzold, Carola

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.156

Cited by 42 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Addressing SIDS energy challenges is no easy task. A wide range of barriers have been cited: lack of information and awareness [1,12,13]; high costs and lack of suitable financing [1,3,[11][12][13][14][15] including limited financial services in some countries; the absence of supportive regulatory frameworks such as rules that make it difficult for utilities to undertake grid extensions in rural areas, or the presence of poorly designed subsidies that keep energy prices artificially low and discourage investment [1,3,[11][12][13][14]16]; small energy markets which constrain the establishment of independent regulatory agencies that can be crucial to the development of new policy measures that will support energy investment [11]; resistance by incumbent-usually state-ownedpower companies to new technologies [1,11,17]; limited technical capacity for working with new sources of energy including renewables [3,14,18]; lack of negotiating capacity [19]; low financial transparency and sustainability of utilities [18]; lack of long-term planning and political commitments [20], mirrored by the short-term horizons of international donors [14]; weak regional coordination, particularly noted in the case of African SIDS [21]; and in some cases, the need for social or cultural changes in order to switch energy sources or technologies [16,18].…”

Section: Energy Challenges In Sidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been relatively little analysis published of what energy aid these countries have received over recent decades, particularly for renewable energy [11]. Most analysis has focused on the Pacific [12,18,22], or the Caribbean and Pacific jointly [19,23]. A further study [30] summarises finance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the energy sector in Asia and the Pacific, which includes the region's SIDS but does not address them specifically.…”

Section: Mapping Energy Aidmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This literature offers some insights into the character of energy aid. A growing emphasis by donors on targeting aid towards reforming energy policy and on institutional technical assistance is widely highlighted [11,12,30]. Another common finding is that grid-based electricity has received considerably more funding than off-grid energy [11,12].…”

Section: Mapping Energy Aidmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development aid for energy in Small Island Developing States

Atteridge

Savvidou

2019

Energ Sustain Soc

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Background: Energy is given high priority in the national development agendas of most Small Island Developing States (SIDS) because it is intertwined with social, economic and environmental challenges. Many SIDS experience heavy fiscal burdens associated with imported fuels, some have very low electricity access rates, and islands also have a strong interest in the transition to cleaner energy because they are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This paper presents a global mapping of development finance for SIDS' energy sectors. We analyse whether energy aid has increased following international commitments to support developing countries tackle climate change and whether this is supporting renewable energy, whether finance has been targeted to different recipient countries based on either their income status or their electricity access rates and whether electricity access rates have substantially improved during this time, and whether financial commitments are actually being disbursed. Methods: Focusing mainly on the period 2002-2016, we use data reported by bilateral and multilateral sources to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee on financial support to 37 SIDS. Our analysis includes almost 5700 energy-related transactions between 2002 and 2016. Data on populations and electricity access rates of individual countries come from the World Bank's Open Data platform. Results: We observe an increase in funding since 2009 and a shift towards renewables, and solar particularly, though oil-fired plants and other non-renewables continue to be funded. Energy aid is unevenly spread between SIDS, on a total and a per capita basis. There is little correlation between the allocations made to individual countries and either their income or energy access gaps, and improvements in electricity access have been slow in those countries where the gap is largest. We also identify low disbursement rates, suggesting implementation problems. Conclusions: There is an urgent need to improve the quantity and quality of aid to help SIDS tackle their significant energy challenges. While the trend towards more funding for renewables is positive, low disbursement levels and limited support for strengthening local human and institutional capacities may be limiting its effectiveness.

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Section: Energy Challenges In Sidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mapping Energy Aidmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mapping Energy Aidmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development aid for energy in Small Island Developing States

Atteridge

Savvidou

2019

Energ Sustain Soc

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“…Table 1 [60] shows the power capacity installed by technology on each island. The most vulnerable Pacific islands have been depending mainly on donor countries [61]. In fact, in the Galapagos Islands, RE investment has been covered by the national government with the support of donor countries and international cooperation agencies.…”

Section: The Electricity Generation Matrix Of the Galapagos Islandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decarbonizing the Galapagos Islands: Techno-Economic Perspectives for the Hybrid Renewable Mini-Grid Baltra–Santa Cruz

et al. 2020

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The fragile ecosystem of the Galapagos Islands is being affected by population growth, intensive tourism, the exploitation of local resources and the high consumption of imported fossil fuels. This unsustainable development model makes the provision of services such as electricity a challenge. This research investigates the hybrid renewable mini-grid Baltra-Santa Cruz, which represents 62% of the electricity generation mix of the archipelago. This study aims to support the Galapagos Zero Fossil Fuel Initiative and the Sustainable Development Goal 7 through the reduction in diesel consumption and electricity generation costs. To do so, HOMER Pro, a specialized hybrid renewable mini-grid planning tool, is used to perform several techno-economic assessments, focusing on different electricity demand scenarios. Therefore, multiple pathways are compared to identify the most reliable alternatives towards the progressive decarbonization of this hybrid system. The results indicate that installing 18.25 MWp of photovoltaic and 20.68 MWh of battery capacity could reduce the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) from 32.06 to 18.95 USc/kWh, increasing the renewable energy (RE) share from 18% to 39%. Additionally, the successful application of energy efficiency measures would even reduce the LCOE to 17.10 USc/kWh. What is more, distributed energy is considered the most attractive way to involve islanders in the energy transition process. Finally, this paper offers a comprehensive business model proposal to achieve a resilient energy supply, based on a combination of auctions and energy community models, which demands high political will, reliable and innovative regulations and social awareness about energy use.Sustainability 2020, 12, 2282 4 of 47 and implement RE projects. In addition, the Ecuadorian Electricity Master Plan (PME) 2016-2025 [44] contains the list of priority projects to increase renewable electricity generation. Moreover, those possible new partners can propose additional RE initiatives thanks to the General Regulation of the LOSPEE. This regulation [43] is based on the targets of the National Plan of Development 2017Development -2021 which prioritize RE resources exploitation to reduce the dependency of fossil fuels. What is more, new companies interested in developing RE projects can receive an income-tax-exemption for five years [46].As regards distributed generation, the photovoltaic microgeneration to electricity self-sufficiency for final consumers of electricity regulation [47] and its amendment [48] promote the installation of PV systems up to 300 kWp per user in the residential sector and below 1000 kWp per user in the commercial and industrial sectors. This regulation is not limited to rooftop PV systems. A net-metering scheme is applied to compensate electricity costs. Thanks to this mechanism, consumers are billed for their "net" electricity use and the associated costs become credits for the following months if the electricity balance is positive for users. [47]. The National Rate Schedule for ...

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“…A high impact on the growing demand for energy have rapidly developing countries of Asia in particular, but also countries of Europe, America and Australia as well as the Pacific Islands (Betzold, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polish Society in the Light of the Use of Renewable Energy Sources

Wojciechowska-Solis¹,

Soroka²

2018

Appl. Ecol. Env. Res.

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Abstract. The aim of the study was to determine the attitude of Polish society towards renewable energy sources and identify the benefits posed by actions that use renewable energy sources. A method of diagnostic survey was applied, conducting the study on the representative sample of 1067 respondents. The Statistica 10.1 GB program and the analysis of discriminant function were used in statistical analysis. It was shown that paying conscious attention to saving energy was the most important declaration of Polish society as the best way to save electricity. Polish citizens declared the use of energy-efficient sources of electricity, and in their opinion the greatest chance of use within the renewable energy sources had solar energy. In the opinion of Polish society, the greatest barrier to use the renewable energy sources is the lack of mechanisms supporting the reduction of energy intensity of the economy and the lack of policy coherence for sustainable development in terms of air protection. Additionally, the most important type of support that would encourage investing in the renewable energy sources is to raise funds from the ecological funds and European Union funds. The acquisition of renewable energy sources is highly influenced by the energy policy pursued by individual European Union countries, and the energy future depends on the political will and the capacity of societies to implement appropriate technologies.

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Fuelling the Pacific: Aid for renewable energy across Pacific Island countries

Cited by 42 publications

References 21 publications

Development aid for energy in Small Island Developing States

Development aid for energy in Small Island Developing States

Decarbonizing the Galapagos Islands: Techno-Economic Perspectives for the Hybrid Renewable Mini-Grid Baltra–Santa Cruz

Polish Society in the Light of the Use of Renewable Energy Sources

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