21 Islands 24 Years
A journey to cleaner and greener
Pacific power grid systems
Data Artist · Pranavi Aourpally
~75% · three grids
Who carries the load
Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Guam generate most regional energy use — roughly three in every four gigawatt-hours.
2 GWh · Tokelau
Smallest on the map
Tokelau sits at the lightest end of the scale — just 2 GWh in 2023. The distance between largest and smallest Pacific grids is vast.
Ranked · 2023
Energy use and fuel mix
10,665 GWh · 21 grids, largest first.
Demand concentrates at the top — three grids carry roughly three in four gigawatt-hours. The remaining eighteen share a thin strip of the total, while sustainable renewables meet just under a quarter of regional energy use.
2000–2023 · 24 years
Two decades of demand
Regional energy use climbed from 7,741 GWh to 10,665 GWh — a 2,924 GWh leap across twenty-four year columns. Sustainable renewables rose by 206 GWh, but their share slipped from 29% to 23% as fossil load grew faster. Scroll to pan the timeline from the century’s opening to today’s ledger.
23% renewable · 2023
An act of sovereignty
Energy transition in the Pacific is not merely an environmental metric—it is an act of sovereignty. Every solar array erected and every hydro turbine spinning replaces a fuel tanker with native resilience, keeping power, capital, and self-determination firmly anchored in island hands. Regional energy use reached 10,665 GWh in 2023, with sustainable renewables supplying 2,446 GWh—about 23% of the total, up 206 GWh since 2000. Progress is real; the distance to self-reliance remains vast.
Appendix
Sources and methods
- Data
- Pacific Community (SPC) DF_POWER_GEN — electricity generation by territory, 2000–2023. Renewable share follows SDG indicator 7.2.1.
- Methodology
- One stippled dot = one gigawatt-hour of generation. Territory positions follow a designed Pacific map, not survey coordinates. A 2 GWh floor is applied for silent series (American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Wallis and Futuna).
- Credits
- Data design and visualization by Pranavi Aourpally. Corrections welcome from Pacific readers.