Renewable energy on small islands
In its 1996 energy action plan, Energy 21, the Danish
Government decided that a Danish island should be
used as a demonstration for its Renewable Energy Islands
Project. The intent was that a renewable energy island
should be 100 per cent self-sufficient from renewable
energy sources, including transportation, within ten
years. The Danish island Samsoe was selected to become
the official demonstration site. The Danish Council
for Sustainable Energy found the renewable energy
island concept a good starting point for exchange
of experience and information and global cooperation.
The Council asked the Danish non-governmental organization,
the Forum for Energy and Development (FED), to initiate
a global mapping of renewable energy developments
on small
islands. The primary focus was on modern renewable
energy technologies on islands with a size below 500
square kilometres.
Most small islands around the world today are dependent
on imported fossil fuels for the majority of their
energy needs, especially for transport and electricity
production. In the Caribbean, for example, petroleum
imports are responsible for more than 75 per cent
of primary energy demand and on the insular islands
of the European Union oil accounts for approximately
90 per cent of the primary energy demand.
Because of the small size and isolated location of
many islands, infrastructure costs such as energy
are higher than on the mainland and the cost of fossil
fuels constitutes a substantial proportion of the
total value of imports. Energy, for example, often
accounts for more than 12 per cent of all imports
in Small Island Developing States and more than 15
per cent of all imports in the islands of the European
Union. This is also reflected in the cost of electricity
production. The production cost for diesel power in
the Caribbean is 10 to 15 US cents per kilowatt-hour
(kWh) and in the Pacific approximately 20 US cents
per kWh. The average production cost per kWh at diesel
power stations in Small Island Developing States can
easily be three to four times the typical production
costs in a nation such as Denmark. Fuel imports are
thus a great drain and a significant constraint on
development because they crowd out vital capital.
In general, there is not a higher penetration of
renewable energy on islands compared to the rest of
the (mainland) world. This is a paradox. The high
price for fossil fuels and the low demand increases
the unit costs of production for conventional power
production. This creates a competitive situation for
renewable energy technologies on the islands. Further,
most of the islands are endowed with good renewable
energy resources, primarily sun and wind. Dispersed
around the world, however, there are a few islands
with a significant utilization of renewable energy
resources.
For example, in Nan’ao Island, PR China, and La Desirade,
Guadeloupe, France, more than 75 per cent of the electricity
is generated from wind power. In Fiji and Dominica,
hydropower provides more than 50 per cent of the electricity
production. In Barbados, solar water heaters are installed
in one-third of the households. In Tuvalu’s eight
outer islands, more than 45 per cent of the households
have their electricity supplied from small photovoltaic
systems, and in Réunion, France, more than 18 per
cent of the electricity is provided from biomass (bagasse).
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| Figure 1: Renewable energy penetration. |
Renewable energy penetration in the power sector
is a good indicator of how much renewable energy contributes
to the energy supply on the investigated islands.
The average figure for renewable energy penetration
is about 25 per cent (Figure 1). Approximately 20
percent have more than half of their electricity generated
from renewable energy sources. This figure is extremely
high, not only compared with the island average, but
also when compared with the world average. The kind
of renewable energy source utilized varies between
the investigated islands (Figure 2). But by far the
most utilized renewable energy source is the wind
— nearly 50 per cent of the islands have utilized
wind-power. Twenty per cent of the islands have experience
with utilizing hydropower. The percentage is almost
similar with regard to the utilization of photovoltaics.
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| Figure 2: Renewable energy sources.
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The islands investigated are scattered all over the
world (Figure 3), but almost one-third are located
in the North Atlantic. The sovereignty status of the
islands is clear — 82 per cent of the islands are
non-sovereign.
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| Figure 3: Location of investigated
islands. |
Are islands interesting when it comes to questions
of the development of renewable energy on a local
and global scale? The answer is yes for two primary
reasons.
The first reason is the competitive situation for
renewable energy technologies and the excellent renewable
energy sources. These two major barriers for the dissemination
of renewable energy sources do not exist on most islands.
There are, of course, other barriers such as the technical,
institutional, and the political.
The most significant barrier is the financial aspect
— the high initial capital costs associated with the
purchase of renewable energy technologies. This is
clearly illustrated in the review. Approximately 80
per cent of the islands with renewable energy experiences
are non-sovereign. They are formally connected to
a mainland entity and, therefore, have substantial
economic support in all sectors, such as infrastructure
among others. The island states do not have this financial
base of support so most of them are dependent on bilateral,
regional and multilateral aid agencies. Is it possible,
through a concentrated effort by donors, to substantially
increase the utilization of renewable energy sources
on many small island states? To do so would contribute
to the social and economical development of the island
state and thereby improve the local and global environment.
The second reason islands are interesting with regard
to the development of renewable energy is that experience
gathered there can serve as demonstration projects
for mainland local communities, not only in developed
countries, but also in developing countries.
There are about 2.5 billion people living outside
a national grid in developing countries. These people
need electricity services and so lessons learned from
renewable energy islands are highly relevant within
this context. Furthermore, islands can serve not only
as demonstration projects for local communities in
the developed and developing world, but through concentrated
efforts some small island states can serve as demonstration
nations. Despite their size small island states could
set a positive example to the rest of the world’s
nations.
Further information
The report Renewable Energy on Small Islands is available
from: Thomas Lynge Jensen, Forum for Energy and Development,
Landgreven 7, 1301 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Fax: 45-33-121308.
Email: tlj@inforse.org. Web: www.inforse.dk/fed/index.htm.
The report is also available in Adobe PDF format (674kb)
at the Council for Sustainable Energy’s web site:
www.energimiljoeraadet.dk/publikationer/pdf/veoe.pdf.
An update will be also available on this site.
Conference announcement
On the 15th and 16th September 1999, the Conference
on Renewable Energy Islands will take place on the
Danish island of Ærø. Located on Ærø is a windmill
park and the world’s biggest (8,000 m2) solar district
heating plant. It is anticipated that over 150 participants
will attend from national and local governments, utilities,
research institutions, and regional and global organizations.
The main objectives of the conference are to exchange
experience, increase awareness and establish a platform
for future cooperation and networking. Primary themes
for discussion are the local and global agenda for
energy, environment and development, organization,
financing, awareness and available and needed resources.
The conference is organized by the Forum for Energy
and Development, which also hosts the International
Secretariat of the International Network for Sustainable
Energy (INFORSE). For further information on the conference
contact Thomas Lynge Jensen at the above address.
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