Renewable energy in the Pacific Island countries: resources, policies and issues

The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that are responsible for the slow development of the renewable energy sector in the Pacific Island countries (PICs), and suggest ways of overcoming them.

The paper compares the energy situation in Australia and Germany to that in the PICs, and the state of energy development in the PICs to its African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) counterparts.

The paper finds that policy frameworks are important pre‐requisites to the development of renewable energy. In addition, the absence of a science and technology base in the PICs is a serious impediment to the development of the renewable energy sector in these countries. It is found that the PICs are lagging behind in policy frameworks and institutional capacity building requirements as compared to other ACP countries.

Policy frameworks must be established as an essential pre‐requisite to the development of renewable energy in the PICs. In addition, ways and means must be found to address the lack of proper attitudes amongst decision‐makers to the value of a science base in development.

The paper identifies the underlying impediments to the rapid development of the renewable energy sector in the PICs, and suggests what could contribute to the lack of an appropriate science base that is considered as a requirement to development.