Region Overview
Overall, the Fijian economy has rebounded strongly post-Covid-19 on the back of tourism, with Asian tourism markets – Fiji’s biggest competitors – slow to open up. Local outbreaks in late 2021 carrying over into the first half of 2022 in Tonga and Solomon Islands, compounded by the effects of civil unrest in the Solomon Islands and the January 2022 volcanic eruption in Tonga, slowed the revival of economic activity for both countries. The impacts of the Ukraine crisis on highly import-dependent economies of the Pacific also saw high inflation and, in particular, its impact on the fuel costs required for electricity generation.
PFAN intensified our focus on e-mobility, a burgeoning topic in the region, by inducting new e-mobility projects in our pipeline and supporting an e-vehicle charging network to commercial launch, setting an example for other Pacific countries to follow suit. Furthermore, our network members attended several events on the topic, including the Pacific Islands Workshop on Electric Mobility as well as the PFAN Asia Region E-Mobility Forum. The workshop outcomes demonstrated there is interest in e-mobility in countries outside Fiji including Tonga, Samoa and Solomon Islands, and this interest could spill over into maritime transport as well. Furthermore, we aimed to broaden our reach in Samoa through presenting at the Samoa Energy Forum in November.
Waste-to-energy is another concern in the region, and we entered into discussions with the Pacific Waste to Energy Project to identify potential projects in the field for PFAN assistance. Electrification programmes are still a priority for governments like Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands however private sector involvement may take some time, as donors are primarily assisting incumbent utility operators.
Partnerships and programme development
Through our partnership with UNDP, we are working on the design of the Fiji Rural Electrification Fund. PFAN is a co-lead on modelling of environment for private sector participation in electrifying 300 rural communities in Fiji. In addition, the Fiji Rural Electrification Fund (FREF) work has moved closer to implementation. PFAN’s funding from Convergence for the preparatory work around the private sector engagement model will start to flow in Q1 2023, which will help provide more visibility to PFAN in Fiji as well as to the rest of the Pacific around rural electrification work. PFAN is working together with UNDP as implementing partner to replicate this work in Vanuatu, and this may yield opportunities for PFAN along similar lines.
Fiji continues to be the Pacific’s strongest performer, with all active projects in the Pacific pipeline, its three financial closures, and a new PFAN advisor recruited in the country. However, we are positive that enhanced capacity building on PFAN’s services for our advisors in other countries including Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands will result in conversion of projects into the pipeline. The Fiji experience in both e-mobility and rural electrification will help to market PFAN’s capabilities, as well drive private sector participation in accelerating adoption.
Finance mobilised and new projects supported
Three businesses successfully raised investment with PFAN support in 2022 (figures will be included in the next annual report due to paperwork submission in early 2023). These were Leaf Capital, a public e-vehicle charging network which has installed electric vehicle charging services, paired with solar energy generation, to connect the four main cities of Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu, and two projects from Sunergis Fiji Pte Limited – a large scale solar and battery energy storage system which will benefit an estimated 20,000 people on the island of Taveuni, and a second project, Tokoriki Resort Hyride Upgrade, which will upgrade the current 500 kWh battery storage system in the resort, as well as improve energy efficiency at the site.
We added 3 new projects to the PFAN pipeline, all in Fiji, in the areas adaptation, energy storage and conservation and solar.
