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EAP - The Pacific Infrastructure Challenge - World Bank (2006).pdf

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A.2 Electricity Sector Analysis<br />

A stunning 70% or more of <strong>Pacific</strong> people lack electricity. 37 Those that do have electricity<br />

face high costs and unreliable supply. <strong>The</strong>re are many reasons: poor management, poor<br />

maintenance and high system losses, but also inherent difficulties with small size, few<br />

economies of scale, and few indigenous, low cost renewable resources.<br />

Most countries in the <strong>Pacific</strong> region suffer from having few primary energy sources from<br />

which to generate electricity. Typically in the <strong>Pacific</strong>, petroleum products account for some<br />

80% of primary commercial energy consumption for transportation and energy. Just under<br />

half of this is used for diesel-fired electricity generation units 38 . Renewable energy, mostly<br />

mini-hydro, contributes less than 10% of commercial energy use.<br />

Neither can many <strong>Pacific</strong> countries, because of their small size and separation by a large<br />

expanse of ocean which defines their geography, enjoy the benefit of economies of scale in<br />

electricity generation and distribution. In some areas, the widely dispersed populations, low<br />

population densities and the topography of their countries make rural electrification<br />

expensive and difficult to afford.<br />

A.1.2 Benchmarking<br />

In this section, we examine the performance of <strong>Pacific</strong> and other similar countries. First, we<br />

present comparative information on access to electricity services. We then analyze the<br />

relative scale of operations across the region, and the performance indicators in each<br />

country.<br />

Access to Electricity<br />

Figure A9 gives an overview of access to electricity in <strong>Pacific</strong> and comparator countries.<br />

Access levels in most <strong>Pacific</strong> countries are low when compared with other countries of a<br />

similar size and GDP per capita such as St Lucia, Dominica and Grenada.<br />

37 ADB Technical Assistance Report on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program for the <strong>Pacific</strong>, April 2003 p1<br />

38 ADB Technical Assistance Report on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program for the <strong>Pacific</strong>, April 2003.<br />

90

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