In 2022, electricity consumption in São Tomé & Príncipe was about **400 kWh per person**, barely a tenth of the global average of 3,794 kWh per person. The supplied figures indicate roughly 44 kWh per person of low-carbon electricity—about 11% of the total—leaving almost nine-tenths supplied by fossil sources. This heavy fossil dependence contributes to climate change and air pollution. Such low electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, refrigeration and business activity, while limiting opportunities to electrify transport and other services.

Is Electricity Growing in São Tomé & Príncipe?

Electricity consumption is **well below its previous peak**, rather than setting new records. The 2022 total of 398 kWh per person was about 140 kWh, or 26%, below the record of 540 kWh reached in 2016. Low-carbon electricity generation was also below its historical high: 44 kWh per person compared with 69 kWh in 2000, a decline of about 36%. These comparisons do not establish whether consumption fell every year, but they reveal a concerning failure to regain earlier levels. Expanding clean electricity supply is important for improving living standards and meeting future demand.

Suggestions

São Tomé & Príncipe could prioritize solar installations on homes, public buildings and suitable land, supported by batteries and stronger local electricity networks. Brazil offers a useful tropical, Portuguese-speaking reference, generating 88 TWh from solar and 110 TWh from wind; Vietnam’s 21 TWh of solar generation also demonstrates substantial deployment in a tropical setting. These totals are not targets for a much smaller island nation, but the places offer lessons in procurement, workforce training and project delivery. Wind projects could complement solar where local measurements support them. Nuclear should also be considered in long-term clean-electricity planning, drawing on the operational expertise of France, which generates 376 TWh from nuclear, and examining appropriately scaled future options through international cooperation.

History

The supplied historical series shows **no recorded change in hydroelectric generation** in the listed years of the 2000s, throughout 2011–2016, or during 2019–2022. Every reported annual change is 0 TWh, suggesting a prolonged absence of substantial recorded expansion rather than sustained growth in this low-carbon source. However, figures rounded to whole TWh can conceal changes that matter greatly to a small electricity system, and the unlisted years cannot be assessed from this series. The record therefore supports concern about apparent stagnation, but not a claim that hydroelectric output was exactly unchanged every year.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade