KIRIBATI COUNTRY REPORT
1. Introduction
1.1 Problem Areas
2. Key actors in the Energy Sector
2.1 Ministry of Works and Energy:
2.2 Solar Energy Company (SEC):
2.3 The Public Utilities Board:
2.4 The Public Works Department (PWD):
2.5 Island Councils:
2.6 KOIL:
2.7 KIRIGAS:
2.8 Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism:
2.9 Ministry of Finance:
2.10 Telecommunications Services of Kiribati Ltd. (TSKL):
3. Energy Policy and Law
4. Rural Energy Use
5. The energy situation in Kiribati
6. Use of energy in rural Kiribati
7. Terms of Reference Discussions
8. Recommendations for the Development of Renewable Energy Technical Assistance:
9. Conclusions and Summary
Appendix 1 - People met in Kiribati
General
Terms of Reference
Phase I
Phase II
People met in Kiribati
The ESCAP team wishes to thank the many people who assisted in the gathering of information and in the preparation of this report. In particular our thanks go to Mr. Kirena Kaiea who arranged for our visit, to Mr. Terubentau Akura who was most helpful in providing information about solar energy in Kiribati and Mr. Rutete Ioteba who provided detailed insight into the needs of the Ministry of Works and Energy in hybrid system development.
KIRIBATI COUNTRY REPORT
1. Introduction
An ESCAP mission consisting of Ms. Rikke Munk Hansen of ESCAP and Mr. Herbert Wade, technical consultant, visited Tarawa, the capital island of Kiribati, from 2 October to 8 October, 2001. The primary contact person for the visit was Mr. Kirena Kaiea, Energy Planner, Department of Energy, Ministry of Works and Energy. The visit was made pursuant to a request by the Kiribati government for ESCAP assistance in developing detailed terms of reference for a prefeasibility study on solar/diesel hybrid power development for Island Council Office areas on rural islands and other assistance as requested during the mission.
Kiribati, formerly the Gilbert Islands, is an independent republic which is a member of the British Commonwealth. It is made up of 33 islands of which 17 are populated with a total population of around 80,000. The country is divided into two major island groups separated by a vast expanse of sea. The Gilbert Group is located near longitude 180 and straddles the equator in a roughly north south line of 18 major islands. Over 90% of the Kiribati population lives in the Gilbert Group. The Line and Phoenix group is comprised of three inhabited islands and lies near the longitude of Hawaii. The main population centre of the Line and Phoenix group is Christmas Island.
The Kiribati Revenue Equalisation Reserve Fund (RERF) provides the government with a sustainable long term source of income which can be used to support the basic development needs of the communities living on the outer islands. Licenses for commercial fishing in territorial waters, remittances from seamen working on foreign vessels and copra exports together represents the majority of national income
Households on rural islandstypically include 5-6 persons and have incomes in the range A$200 - 400 per month. Families with seamen generally have much higher incomes. The well equipped and professionally staffed seaman training centre on Betio each year graduates well trained seamen to the German merchant marine and the Japanese fishing fleet and remittances from these overseas workers is a major source of cash for rural families.
1.1 Problem Areas
The key problem for Kiribati is its remoteness, which makes transport very expensive and communications difficult. With only two flights a week, tourism, which is a major source of income for most other Pacific Island Countries, is not an option. Air freight often is slower in arriving from Fiji than sea freight due to frequent large backlogs on Air Nauru flights. Though DHL has a representative in Kiribati, its courier service is irregular and delivery times for both incoming and outgoing document packages that exceeds four weeks appears common as was the case in several personal experiences by the consultant. Importing via surface shipping is regular and generally reliable though can be very slow when there is a need to change shipping lines several times along the route.
Parts of Kiribati suffer from extended periods of drought which exacerbate the problems associated with water supply and sanitation. Bringing fresh water by barge to some islands has been required in the recent past and attempts are being made to improve water supply conditions throughout the country. Increasing population density, particularly on Tarawa, has resulted in severe problems of water pollution both by sewage and by salt water entry into the fresh water supply held in the porous coral base of the island. There is little, if any, sewerage infrastructure in the outer islands, and only a rudimentary sewage collection network in densely populated South Tarawa.
Communications with the islands more distant from Tarawa are largely by short wave radio though a VHF and microwave digital telephone system now operational on several islands close to Tarawa is gradually being extended by TSKL.
Transport of goods and personnel is normally by government or private ship to all islands, but is also possible by small plane for most islands though available space is very limited. Island councils and some government facilities on outer islands have trucks, tractors and in some cases cars for transport which can be rented for specific transport purposes. Virtually all houses are within 100 meters of road access. Personal transport is most often by foot, bicycle or motorcycle with very few private vehicles on outer islands.
Kiribati experiences high temperatures and all parts of the narrow atolls are very close to the ocean, so the air is typically very humid and has a corrosive salt content. This causes rapid corrosion of many metals and rapid degradation of unprotected electronic systems. Electronic equipment such as computers and videos suffer not only from the high humidity, temperature and salt laden air but also from airborne fungi, which can quickly destroy video tapes and floppy disks and also can create current flow paths between printed circuit board connections causing irregular operation or failure of the contaminated device.
2. Key actors in the Energy Sector
The energy sector involves the following key organisations in Kiribati:
2.1 Ministry of Works and Energy:
The Ministry of Works and Energy has responsibility for energy planning in Kiribati through its Energy Planning Unit. Its stated policy is to provide outer island energy through renewable sources as much as is practical.
2.2 Solar Energy Company (SEC):
The SEC was initially set up in 1984 and is still the only PV company in Kiribati. It is owned by Government though it is a commercially operated company. The members of the Board of Directors of the SEC are nominated by the titular owner of the company, the Minister of Works and Energy. The Board is chaired by a civil servant within the Ministry of Works and Energy and includes senior civil servants from other ministries and private company representatives. No subsidies are provided by the Kiribati Government for its operation. At the time of the visit, an EU project to expand the SEC home electrification coverage from three islands to all islands of the Gilbert group was just beginning. This project will expand the user base of the SEC solar utility from about 300 to about 1800 systems total and will result in about 20% rural electrification coverage by solar PV.
2.3 The Public Utilities Board:
This is the Government Corporation under the Ministry of Works and Energy that is responsible for electrical generation and operation of the electricity grid for South Tarawa. It is not directly involved with the supply or operation of PV electricity systems nor does it have any responsibility on rural islands of the Gilbert Group. The infrastructure of the PUB has suffered from poor maintenance and a lack of capital investment in generation equipment making power reliability and quality increasingly poor in recent years. The Government of Kiribati has made a priority request to Japan for assistance in this area and a large project to improve the Tarawa electrical supply system is now beginning with JICA funding.
2.4 The Public Works Department (PWD):
PWD is a part of the Ministry of Works and Energy. It has responsibility for outer island water supply and, in the case of Christmas Island, operation of the electrical supply. Since many of the village water supply systems are powered by PV, there is some responsibility for solar system operation and maintenance shared with the SEC.
2.5 Island Councils:
Each of the outer islands of Kiribati has an Island Council, staffed by one or more full time civil servants, who manage the public business of the island. They have a key role in the development of their communities, and provide important official links with the Government. Most Island Councils operate a small diesel generator a few hours in the evening primarily for the benefit of employees housed near the office area.
2.6 KOIL:
The Kiribati oil company purchases petroleum products wholesale from the international oil supply contractor (Mobil Oil at the time of the visit) and is the wholesale distributor of liquid fuels throughout Kiribati.
2.7 KIRIGAS:
Kirigas is the largest LPG distributor. Distribution to outer islands is very limited though increasing. On Tarawa there is increasing use of LPG for cooking.
2.8 Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism:
This Ministry is responsible for setting the price of controlled products, including liquid fuels, through Prices Regulation Orders. It does not regulate electricity prices.
2.9 Ministry of Finance:
This Ministry is responsible for National Planning and is directly involved in projects benefiting from international aid.
2.10 Telecommunications Services of Kiribati Ltd. (TSKL):
The privatised communications company of Kiribati. Most of the outer island communications systems are powered by photovoltaics so it has some PV maintenance responsibility and capability.
3. Energy Policy and Law
In the mid-1990s, Kiribati signed as an adopter of a general energy policy developed for Pacific Island Country use by the Forum Secretariat Energy Division (FSED). Though stated as Kiribati energy policy, that policy is in fact generic in nature and was not developed for specific Kiribati conditions though some modifications were made by the Kiribati Government before signing. It encourages energy efficiency, minimal environmental impact due to energy use and the use of renewables where economically reasonable. It does not specifically identify either institutional or technical approaches for Tuvalu rural energy development.
There is no law regulating energy production or sales except for electricity. The existing electricity law makes grid provided electricity on Tarawa a monopoly service provided by the Government owned Public Utilities Board (PUB) which has sole responsibility for the reliable and safe operation of the electrical supply system. The law does not address off grid provision of electrical services, such as with solar panels, nor does it address issues of independent power production for feeding into the grid. Outer islands are not considered as part of the PUB service area and therefore the development of grid based electricity on other than Tarawa does not face any legal difficulties. Electrical pricing is based on cost of service with the PUB required to recover at least the full cost of generation from its customers if it is to survive commercially.
4. Rural Energy Use
The energy needs of the rural populations in the outer islands of Kiribati are quite low, the main requirements being for lighting, radio or tape player operation and cooking. Where there is electrical use, it is typically less than 0.2 kWh per day. There is a growing demand for videos and a demand for television can be expected if TV signals are broadcast to the islands in the future.
Some rural shops have installed refrigerators and freezers powered by own small diesel or petrol generators but at the present time there is little domestic demand for refrigeration since most of the food is in the form of freshly caught fish, rice and freshly prepared local fruits and vegetables. Fresh meat is available for special occasions from chickens and pigs raised by individual families. Typically, leftover food is distributed to family and friends or fed to the pigs, chickens and other household animals thereby making the need for refrigeration minimal. When a rural grid extension was made by PUB to North Tarawa, a few rural households purchased freezers or refrigerators but most have been abandoned due to their cost of operation being too high for the limited value of the services provided. Even on Tarawa where refrigerators are provided in government employee housing, they often appear to be used little except for cold drink storage.
5. The energy situation in Kiribati
There is a Public Utility Board (PUB) electricity grid on South Tarawa presently undergoing rehabilitation under JICA funding. A short extension has been made to rural North Tarawa but the line has proven to be very uneconomic and there are no plans for further extensions into rural areas. Distant Christmas Island also has a diesel grid operated by the PWD. It is mainly to serve the tourist industry which hosts numerous individuals and groups from Hawaii who wish to take advantage of the excellent ocean fishing around the island.
The real costs of fuel on the outer islands are very high, largely because of the costs of transporting the fuel first to the main island and then onwards to the outer islands. Bulk fuel deliveries are only made to Tarawa and to Christmas Island. Liquid fuels are transported in 200 litre drums to the outer islands by ship. For most islands the drums are then transferred by small boat to the beach or floated to the shore from where they are rolled up the beach to a holding compound. Most islands store all fuel in the received drums though a few islands have a modest sized bulk fuel storage which is filled from the transported drums. Most drums can only withstand a few trips over the coral reefs and up the beach before they begin to leak. Salt water corrosion of the drums also greatly shortens their life. Because of the problems of leakage, drums of fuel cannot be stored in the same part of the supply ships as food and other goods so the ship owners have to limit the number of drums carried on each trip. The ship owners are also somewhat reluctant to transport empty drums on the return trips to the mainland as they are bulky and of little value. As a result, there is a continuing shortage of drums and a frequent shortage of liquid fuels on the outer islands. This situation is not expected to change in the near future since the size of the market for liquid fuels on the outer islands is likely to remain small and there is little incentive for investment in better fuel transportation or distribution infra-structure.
6. Use of energy in rural Kiribati
Cooking on the outer islands is mainly by burning coconut husks, though kerosene is often used by wealthier families, especially when it is raining. LPG is also used for cooking on South Tarawa, but not yet to any significant extent on the outer islands mainly due to poor distribution and high prices caused by the shipping of small, individual propane containers rather than LPG in bulk. Lighting on the outer islands is mostly by kerosene wick lanterns. Kerosene pressure lamps are used for fishing and special occasions. Radios, electric torches, tape players and entertainment electronics are usually operated from dry batteries. It is estimated that the household expenditure on energy in the outer islands is typically A$10-20 per month excluding fuel for transport.
The Solar Energy Company operates and maintains approximately 300 solar home systems on North Tarawa, Nonouti and Marakae for a user fee of about A$10 per month. The SEC also maintains a number of larger systems for the Government and private organizations at schools, health centres and other facilities on all the islands of the Gilbert Group. The approximately 500 households with solar power (some 200 are estimated to be privately owned) typically have up to 3 lights and about half of them also have a radio. They typically use their lights from sunset (approx. 18:30) until they go to bed and then as required for any activities during the night such as dealing with a sick child, preparing to go fishing at night, or preparing fish brought back from night fishing. Some also use the lights in the early morning when they are getting ready to go fishing or to work during the cool part of the day.
On each island, there is a local government office for the Island Council. On most islands, the Island Council operates a small diesel or petrol generator in the evenings and supplies poor quality AC power for lighting to government employee housing and other nearby homes through a small grid generally consisting of indoor house wiring haphazardly attached to nearby trees. Some communities also have small generators to power community buildings (maneapas) where movies may be shown and other community events held. Some churches also have generators for use for evening services and events. A few wealthy individuals own private generators and a few of those supply power to neighbours for a fee.