Energy security assessment of small Pacific Island Countries – Sustaining the call for renewable energy proliferation

Abstract

Using a contemporary assessment framework, we assess the energy security status of small Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in line with its three broad perspectives. These perspectives – sovereignty, robustness, and resilience encapsulate vulnerabilities and threats to vital energy systems, including their respective political and economic strata. Based on a recently adopted regional energy security framework, we unpack these perspectives and generate a collective evaluative judgment of its impact across small PICs. The results resonate with the commonly held notion that energy security concerns are significant and likely to become more severe if expanding energy needs are not addressed through the proliferation of renewable and sustainable energy applications. Another emerging yet familiar concern is that the energy import bill will become more unsustainable for these cash-strapped islands. The findings demonstrate that PICs have severe constraints to overcome, especially with acquiring appropriate technologies and building institutional capacities to implement their respective energy policies and realise their critical energy targets.