Kiribati is a nation in the central Pacific Ocean comprising 33 coral atolls and islands spanning an area of 3.5 million km2 of ocean with a land area of about 810 km2. The permanent population is about 110,000 spread over 24 islands, with more than half living on South Tarawa Atoll.
Kiribati is considered as one of the least developed countries in the world. Kiribati’s primary commercial income comes from fishing and coconut products. Kiribati gets a large portion of its income from abroad which include fishing licenses, development assistance, worker remittances and tourism. The country is one of the most vulnerable countries to the adverse impacts of climate change.
Kiribati, like other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) depends on imported oil products to meet the vast majority of its energy needs. This dependence makes Kiribati extremely vulnerable to oil price volatility.
The whole island is divided into three zones for the purpose of electricity service: South Tarawa, Kiritimati and Outer Islands. South Tarawa has the highest demand of electricity with an installed capacity of 4.8 MW of diesel generation and 1.45 MWp of PV in the year 2017. Kiritimati Island has the second largest electricity demand with total generation estimated at 1.65 GWh in 2014 .There are a number of PV and hybrid systems in Kiritimati . The Outer Islands are mainly powered by many small power systems which ranges from solar household systems (SHS) to solar maneaba (community meeting halls) systems.
Apart from imported oil products, bio energy and solar are the two main sources of energy. In 2014, the reliance on imported petroleum fuel was 63% with renewable energy sources accounting for the remaining 37%. Other technologies may in future allow extraction of energy from the ocean (OTEC, wave and ocean currents), but at this stage are not considered commercially proven.
The level of solar energy is very good with estimates for some islands indicating over 6kWh/m2/day; solar water heating and solar PV are renewable energy technologies used. Electricity in rural areas mostly comes from solar systems like solar home systems. The Solar Energy Company (KSEC) has been installing solar energy systems in Kiribati since 1984.
The Kiribati Integrated Energy Roadmap, 2017-25 highlights the increase in the use of renewable technologies mainly solar for desalination of ocean water and deployment of more solar PV and battery storage plants. The following renewable energy targets have been adopted by Kiribati as official policy goals:
The goal for Tarawa is a 45% reduction in fossil fuel use by 2025. 23% of this goal will be achieved through deployment of renewable energy and 22% through improvements in energy efficiency.
The goal for Kiritimati is a 60% reduction in fossil fuels by 2025. 40% is to be achieved through deployment of renewable energy and 20% through improvements in energy efficiency.
The goal for the Outer Islands is a 60% reduction in fossil fuel use in all rural public infrastructure, including Southern Kiribati Hospital and ice plants, (40% through deployment of renewable energy and 20% through improvements in energy efficiency) by 2025.