In 2023, almost two-thirds of Fiji’s electricity came from low-carbon sources, while fossil fuels supplied just over a third. Hydropower dominated the electricity mix, providing slightly more than half of all electricity, and biofuels contributed about 10%. Together, low-carbon sources accounted for roughly 63%, compared with 37% from fossil fuels, leaving substantial scope for clean electricity to replace generation associated with climate change and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in Fiji?

Fiji’s electricity consumption per person has essentially stagnated: at 1,244 kWh in 2023, it was just 2 kWh below the previous record of 1,246 kWh in 2019. Low-carbon electricity generation per person, however, reached a new high of 790 kWh, exceeding the previous record of 743 kWh in 2020 by 47 kWh, or about 6%. That clean electricity growth is encouraging, but the lack of growth in overall consumption per person warrants attention as electrification and emerging demand, including AI, increase electricity needs. These figures describe per-person trends rather than establishing whether total national electricity consumption grew.

Suggestions

To increase low-carbon electricity generation, Fiji should prioritize solar expansion, drawing lessons from nearby Pacific island regions: Samoa and Vanuatu each generate about 13% of their electricity from solar, while the US state of Hawaii achieves about 23%. Their experience can inform rooftop solar, larger solar projects, storage, and island-grid planning. Wind also deserves consideration where local conditions are suitable: Cape Verde generates about 14% of its electricity from wind, offering another island example. Fiji should also consider nuclear electricity in its long-term clean electricity planning, learning from France and Slovakia, where nuclear supplies roughly two-thirds of electricity, and assessing designs suited to Fiji’s electricity system. These examples demonstrate complementary ways to expand clean electricity alongside existing hydropower.

History

Fiji’s low-carbon electricity history has been shaped mainly by hydropower additions. Hydro generation increased by 0.3 TWh in 1984 and another 0.1 TWh in 1990. During the 2000s, biofuels rose by 0.1 TWh in 2000, while hydro added 0.1 TWh in 2001 and 0.2 TWh in 2007; other listed years included smaller fluctuations or no change. The 2010s brought further hydro gains of 0.1 TWh in each of 2012, 2016, and 2018, alongside fluctuations in intervening years, while biofuels increased by 0.1 TWh in 2018. More recently, hydro was unchanged in 2022, and biofuel generation fell by 0.1 TWh that year before recovering by the same amount in 2023. Overall, these intermittent additions underline the opportunity for a more sustained expansion of clean electricity, especially solar.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade