In 2023, electricity consumption in Solomon Islands was just 138 kWh per person—around 4% of the global average of 3,794 kWh per person, or roughly one twenty-seventh as much. Low-carbon electricity generation amounted to 13 kWh per person, equivalent to about 9% of that total, leaving roughly nine-tenths supplied by fossil sources. This very low level of electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, refrigeration, communications and business development. Expanding clean electricity would help improve living standards while reducing fossil-fuel-related air pollution and climate impacts.

Is Electricity Growing in Solomon Islands?

Electricity consumption in Solomon Islands is not reaching new highs. The 2023 figure was 22 kWh per person below the historical record of 160 kWh per person set in 2007—a decline of about 14% from that peak. Low-carbon electricity generation also showed no increase over its previous record: it remained at 13 kWh per person, matching 2022. These figures indicate disappointing stagnation in clean electricity and a substantial shortfall from the overall consumption peak, rather than the sustained growth needed to support wider electrification and future demand.

Suggestions

Solomon Islands should prioritize expanding solar electricity through rooftop installations, community systems and solar-powered island microgrids, supported by batteries and stronger distribution networks. Nearby Australia, with 57 TWh of solar generation, offers useful lessons in scaling solar, while tropical Vietnam and Thailand generated 21 TWh and 11 TWh respectively. Wind could complement solar where local resource assessments identify suitable sites; Australia’s 43 TWh of wind generation provides another regional reference. Nuclear electricity should also be considered in long-term planning, including opportunities for international cooperation and assessment of appropriately sized technologies. Japan, an island nation generating 92 TWh from nuclear, and France, generating 379 TWh, demonstrate nuclear’s contribution to substantial clean electricity supplies. These examples offer lessons in policy, investment and technical capacity, rather than output targets for Solomon Islands.

History

The supplied history of low-carbon electricity covers only solar generation in 2022 and 2023. In both years, the reported change from the preceding year was zero TWh, showing no recorded increase at the precision provided. Because Solomon Islands has a small electricity system, figures rounded to whole TWh can conceal smaller changes, so these entries do not establish that solar output was exactly unchanged. Nevertheless, together with the unchanged low-carbon generation figure per person in 2023, they underline the need for a stronger push toward sustained clean electricity growth.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade