In 2022, electricity consumption in Kiribati was about 307 kWh per person, including roughly 77 kWh of low-carbon electricity. That puts clean electricity at around a quarter of the total, with fossil fuels accounting for the remaining three quarters, or about 230 kWh per person. Total consumption was only about 8% of the global average of 3,853 kWh per person—roughly one thirteenth as much. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, refrigeration, water supply, education and business development. Expanding clean electricity would support these essential services while reducing reliance on fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in Kiribati?

The latest figures do not show electricity consumption reaching new heights in Kiribati. Consumption in 2022 was 16 kWh per person below the 2019 record of 323 kWh, a decline of about 5%. Low-carbon electricity generation also stood about 5% below its previous record, falling from 81 kWh per person in 2019 to 77 kWh in 2022. These comparisons do not establish the direction of change in every intervening year, but they show disappointing progress relative to earlier peaks. Kiribati needs sustained growth in clean electricity to improve living standards and support future electrification.

Suggestions

Kiribati should prioritize expanding its existing solar generation, which already makes a substantial contribution to its electricity supply. Rooftop installations, community solar systems, battery storage and stronger local grids could help deliver more clean electricity across its islands. Australia, with 59 TWh of solar generation, offers a useful regional reference for solar deployment, while island regions such as Japan and Taiwan generate about 100 TWh and 18 TWh from solar respectively. Their experience can inform planning and technical training, although projects must suit Kiribati’s much smaller electricity system. Nuclear electricity also merits consideration in long-term planning: France generates 373 TWh from nuclear, illustrating its contribution to dependable low-carbon supply. For Kiribati, any nuclear pathway would require careful assessment of appropriately scaled technology, institutional capacity and international partnerships; solar expansion is the clearest immediate priority.

History

The supplied historical series records zero TWh of year-on-year change in solar electricity generation in every year from 2019 through 2022. At the precision provided, this indicates no recorded expansion over that period, rather than an absence of solar generation. It also does not rule out smaller changes hidden by rounding. Together with the lower per-person clean electricity figure in 2022, this points to a need for renewed investment so that solar generation grows rather than remaining broadly flat.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade