Pacific family applauds launch of Niue energy roadmap

2 November 2015 (Niue) / 3 November 2015 (western Pacific, Aust and NZ), Alofi
 
A 10-year roadmap to improve all forms of energy security and access on the Pacific island of Niue has been launched in Alofi today during a governing body meeting for Pacific Community (SPC) officials.
 
Niue becomes the sixth SPC island member to finalise a national energy roadmap with technical assistance from SPC, following in the footsteps of Tonga, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa and Nauru.
 
Speaking at the launch, Niue’s Minister of Infrastructure, the Hon Dalton Tagelagi, said that a shared quest by Pacific nations for greater energy security and accessibility was vital to promote regional connectivity between people, institutions and places.
 
“This Niue Strategic Energy Road Map 2015–2025 is government’s effort, at the national level, to work with its national and regional partners and the global community to unlock the development potential of Niue and to contribute to addressing the challenges of climate change,” Minister Tagelagi said.
 
“This roadmap represents a whole-of-government approach to addressing Niue’s energy security challenges whereby we look at the entire energy sector, including electricity, renewable energy, energy efficiency and petroleum, and have all the partners working together as one team in its implementation.
 
“I acknowledge the technical assistance and guidance provided by the Pacific Community in the development of this strategy, and the time, effort and commitment our Niue national team gave to its completion,” the Minister said.
 
The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the global community in September, include a dedicated goal for energy: to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
 
This reaffirms the important linkages between energy, transport, food, water and health in pursuit of sustainable development, the Director of SPC’s Economic Development Division, Captain John Hogan, said.
 
“Energy security is central to the sustainable development of Pacific Island countries and territories, regardless of their size, resource endowments and distance to the markets,” Capt Hogan said at the launch.
 
In 2013, Niue expended NZ$6 million on 2.3 million litres of petroleum imports, 75% of which was used for power generation with the remainder used mostly for transportation.
 
Efforts continue to accelerate the deployment of feasible renewable energy technologies in Niue, with installed renewable energy capacity equivalent to some 14% of the island’s total installed power capacity.
 
The energy roadmap is based on three inter-related goals of significance: increasing renewable energy integration to the grid to have 80% renewable energy generation by 2025, improving energy efficiency in the electricity and transport sub-sectors and improving the reliability of energy supply.
 
The document is available here.
 
Kiribati is due to be the next Pacific island nation to complete its national energy roadmap with technical assistance from SPC, Capt Hogan said.
 
Delegates in Niue attending the officials meeting ahead of the 9th biennial Pacific Community Conference also heard that next steps in establishing a Pacific Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy will be discussed later this month at a meeting of the Pacific Energy Advisory Group in Suva, Fiji.
 

Media contacts: Andre Siohane, Director General, Ministry of Infrastructure – Communications, Utilities, Transport. Alofi, Niue, [email protected] or +683 4018

Atishma Lal   Project Information Assistant, Economic Development Division, SPC, [email protected] or +679 3379 402
Solomone Fifita, Deputy Director, Energy, SPC, [email protected] or +679 3379 413