In 2022, electricity consumption in São Tomé & Príncipe was about 400 kWh per person, compared with the global average of roughly 3,800 kWh—only about one-tenth as much. Low-carbon electricity generation amounted to 44 kWh per person, equivalent to around 11% of consumption. The figures provided do not explicitly identify the remaining electricity by source, so its fossil-fuel share cannot be confirmed from these numbers alone. Such low electricity availability can constrain healthcare, refrigeration, education and business activity, while limiting opportunities to electrify transport and other services. Expanding clean electricity would help support economic development without increasing the climate and air-pollution impacts of fossil fuels.

Is Electricity Growing in São Tomé & Príncipe?

Electricity consumption is well below its historical peak rather than setting new records. The 2022 figure of 398 kWh per person was 142 kWh, or about 26%, below the record of 540 kWh reached in 2016. Low-carbon generation was also below its previous high: 44 kWh per person in 2022 compared with 69 kWh in 2000, a decline of about 36%. These comparisons do not establish whether consumption increased or decreased in the latest year, but they show a concerning retreat from earlier achievements, particularly in clean electricity provision.

Suggestions

São Tomé & Príncipe should prioritize expanding solar electricity, supported by storage and grid improvements. Brazil offers a relevant Portuguese-speaking, tropical example, generating about 88 TWh from solar in the supplied comparison; Vietnam’s 21 TWh also illustrates solar’s contribution in a tropical setting. Their absolute output is not a target for this much smaller island nation, but their experience can inform procurement, training and grid integration. Wind deserves local resource assessment, with lessons from island regions such as Ireland, which generated about 12 TWh from wind. Nuclear should also be considered in long-term clean-electricity planning, drawing on Brazil’s roughly 14 TWh of nuclear generation and France’s 376 TWh, while assessing options appropriate to the country’s future electricity demand and grid scale.

History

The reported history of low-carbon electricity shows little visible movement in hydro generation. Every listed year in the 2000s, from 2002 through 2009, records a change of zero TWh, as do the listed years from 2011 through 2016 and from 2019 through 2022. These are changes rather than generation totals: zero does not mean hydro produced no electricity, and rounding may conceal small increases or decreases. Nevertheless, the supplied series shows no recorded expansion at its reporting precision, underscoring the need for a stronger push to increase low-carbon electricity generation.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade