WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

sustainable for the future. 13 The PICTs, of which many
are small island states, are susceptible to external
economic fluctuations, natural disasters and
environmental shocks (e.g. tropical cyclones, flooding,
drought and earthquakes). Sea level rise is also of
serious concern, particularly for some of the islands of
the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati and
for all of the Tuvalu islands. 1
The switch to renewable energy and energy
independence, to mitigate climate change and also to
provide greater economic stability to PICTs is thus
important. At the same time, the investments made
into various renewable energy technologies should
consider the changing environment due to the effects
of climate change. In the case of small hydropower,
this means the effect on water availability particularly
during the dry season.
Small hydropower definition
There seems to be no official small hydropower
definition, but hydropower up to 10 MW is considered
small. Therefore, this section on the PICTs will focus
on all installations up to 10 MW. In Fiji, schemes with
capacities up to 1.5 MW are referred to as mini
hydropower, and schemes with capacities up to 100
kW are referred to as micro hydropower. 14
Regional overview
Eight of the twenty-two countries have adopted small
hydropower, i.e. Fiji, New Caledonia (self-governing
territory of France), Papua New Guinea , Solomon
Islands, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia,
French Polynesia (overseas territory of France) and
Samoa. These countries or territories all have a
tropical climate, as well as mountainous areas which
are suitable for small hydropower. While New
Caledonia and Vanuatu’s weather is influenced by
trade winds, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Solomon
Islands are influenced by monsoon and Micronesia
has heavy year-round rainfall and typhoons. Nonmountainous
islands or low-lying atoll islands, such as
the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati and others, have very
little or no hydropower; the hydropower potential of
these countries has not been assessed and is not
treated in this report.
While all five countries of Melanesia use small
hydropower, most countries/territories of Micronesia
(i.e. Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Northern
Mariana Islands, and Palau), and Polynesia (i.e.
American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn,
Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna Islands)
do not use small hydropower.
The total installed capacity of small hydropower in the
eight examined countries is more than 100 MW, while
the potential is at least 300 MW. This is a conservative
technical feasible potential that could be developed
based on existing feasibility studies if finance were
available. For example, on Solomon Islands, a very
general study by Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) showed a small hydro potential of 326
MW, but only a study that considered 11 MW based
on 62 sites that are technically and economically
feasible was used. Also the Government of Fiji has
made a list of 100 potential projects according to
priority, but its total capacity was not available and
could not be assessed.
Table 2
Small hydropower up to 10 MW in the Pacific Island
Countries and Territories
(Megawatts)
Country Potential capacity Installed capacity
Melanesia
Fiji 14.7 ̴10.0
New Caledonia 27.1 9.4
Papua New Guinea 153.0 20.2
Solomon Islands 11.3 0.3
Vanuatu 4.0 1.3
Micronesia
Micronesia 8.9 2.0
Polynesia
French Polynesia 65.0 47.0
Samoa 22.0 11.9
Total 305.7 102.1
Sources: See country reports
Note: New Caledonia has 26.4 MW of small hydropower in planning.
Data from 2011/2012.
It was particularly difficult to obtain recent small
hydropower information. However, one can see that
hydropower plays an important role in the electricity
generation in Samoa (44 per cent), Fiji (57 per cent),
New Caledonia (25 per cent) and Papua New Guinea
(20 per cent).
In the case of Papua New Guinea, hydropower
potential is substantial, as a large part of the country
is mountainous and receives substantial rainfall.
Information on specific sites is limited, due to the
absence of systematic hydrological surveys. 3 A 1985
study reported a 6-MW potential, however the
Hydropower Atlas and Industry Guide 2011 noted a
153 MW of small hydropower potential. Vanuatu and
Micronesia neither have comprehensive hydropower
resource assessments, nor any past small hydropower
feasibility studies available.
The development of small hydropower has been
relatively slow in the region. For many years there was
not much small hydropower development, except at
micro-scale on the Solomon Islands with the help of
Appropriate Technology for Community Environment -
Village First Electrification Group i (APACE–VFEG).
More recently, there have been some activities of
which a non-exhaustive list is given below:
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