Country Overview
- Vanuatu is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 800 km west of Fiji and 1,770 km east of Australia. It is a volcanic archipelago with 83 islands. The capital and largest city is Port Vila, situated on the island of Éfaté.
- Population – Approx 377,00
- Electrification – Of the 83 islands in Vanuatu, electricity network grids are located only on the islands of Vanua Lava, Ambae, Maewo, Santo, Pentecost, Malekula, Efate, and Tanna. In this context, census data indicates that Vanuatu has experienced a dramatic boom in the adoption of off-grid solar. In 2009, only 4% of rural households were using solar power as their main source of lighting, with this number dramatically growing to 83% in 2016 and growing steadily thereafter.
- Energy policy – The market-based distribution of solar home systems is a key strategy to address widespread energy poverty, especially in rural and remote islands across Vanuatu. Several foreign aid-driven programs have catalysed the off-grid solar market in Vanuatu – this includes Lighting Vanuatu and the Vanuatu Renewable Energy Project (VREP).
Research on Off-grid Repair
- This research project is funded by the Australian Government’s Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) initiative. This two-year project – “Facilitating off-grid solar maintenance, repair, and entrepreneurship in Vanuatu” – is being implemented in partnership with the Vanuatu Department of Energy, Vanuatu Institute of Technology and the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association (VDPA).
- The project has three core aims:
1. To foster off-grid solar repair on Pentecost, Tanna and Aneityum.
2. To create new livelihood opportunities for women and people with disability.
3. To develop insights and lessons learned that can be shared and applied across Vanuatu and the wider Pacific region. - The provision of repair knowledge and services on each island will be based on intensive socio-technical research to develop strategies that are suited to each island’s unique spatial, socio-cultural and technical profile.
Progress
- Hosted an inception workshop in Port Vila (August 2024) to help co-design our project approach
- Completed field research on Pentecost, Tanna, Aneityum (as well as Futuna and Aniwa).
