Few places demonstrate this better than Apolima, a tiny island in the strait between Samoa’s two main islands, home to just 11 households. Through REnew Pacific, the Electric Power Corporation (EPC) is replacing the island’s small, ageing power network with a new solar and battery system that runs day and night, with a back-up generator only for long cloudy spells. EPC will own and maintain it, funded by electricity payments, so the island keeps the power on for good. Across Samoa, the same project is reaching another 108 households and five community fales on Upolu and Savai’i that have long lived beyond the grid, replacing wood, kerosene and diesel with clean, safe power. Find out more here.

In Fiji, GGGI is reaching the maritime islands of Lakeba, Rotuma and Vanuabalavu, separated from the main group by long stretches of open sea. Delivering solar-hybrid systems here means shipping equipment across the ocean to reach around 4,900 people, replacing the diesel that has to be barged in with cleaner, steadier power and water. Find out more here.

In Kiribati, EcoCare is bringing a whole-of-island solar system to Arorae, the country’s southernmost outer island, home to more than 1,000 people. Reaching every corner of it takes a new mini-grid with battery storage and more than five kilometres of underground cabling, replacing the island’s diesel generators and powering its schools, clinic and community halls and progressively connecting up to 100 homes, with Starlink and e-learning reaching students on the island for the first time. Delivered by local NGO EcoCare Group with CBS Power Solutions and the Arorae Island Council, it’s built to grow as the island’s needs do. Find out more here.

A second REnew Pacific project reaches further still, to Riboono in Abaiang and Tabuarorae in Onotoa, where GGGI and Kiribati Green Energy Solutions (KGES) are installing solar-hybrid mini-grids with battery storage. Around 800 people will gain reliable, round-the-clock power for homes, schools, health centres and small businesses, with the systems built, owned and run locally by KGES to keep them going for the long term. Find out more here.

And in Vanuatu, the last nautical mile has a vessel of its own. Respond Global’s HELPR-1 carries solar systems, tools and technicians by sea to health facilities on outer islands reachable only by boat and sets them up on arrival. It’s our first project to complete, installing or upgrading solar at 41 health facilities across all six of Vanuatu’s provinces, bringing reliable power to clinics that serve more than 70,000 people. Find out more here.

Behind every panel installed this far out are the boats, the open-water crossings and the incredible people bringing power where the grid was never going to go. These REnew Pacific projects are all delivered by the Australian Government’s Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) and implemented by Palladium.

Join us each week for a new story as we count down to COP31.

This week’s film comes from the recent launch of REnew Pacific’s Kiribati projects, where the Australian High Commission counts us down with now only four weeks to go!

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In Samoa, REnew Pacific’s first project is bringing solar and battery systems to 108 households and five community fales across Upolu and Savai’i, reaching families who have long relied on kerosene lamps, wood fires and disposable batteries for light. Led by the Electric Power Corporation (EPC), it means children can study into the evening, homes are safer without the smoke and fire risk of kerosene lamps, and phones and appliances can be charged without a trip into town. Twenty of the most vulnerable households are being supported through a fast-track partnership with the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development so the families who need it most aren’t left behind.

The five community fales matter just as much. These shared village spaces give people who can’t host a system at home somewhere to charge phones, gather under lights and use shared appliances, while supporting village meetings, youth programs and women’s committees. It turns energy access into something the whole village shares. Find out more here.

In Vanuatu, that everyday difference is measured in water closer to home. In the remote community of Petervat, in north Malekula, a new solar-powered system pumps water from a natural spring to five taps around the village, delivered by GGGI and Vanuatu’s National Green Energy Fund. “In the past, we relied on water from the river, but now we have access to water from a natural spring, and daily life is much easier,” says Jamie Vaxal, Secretary of the Petervat Community Water Committee. Petervat is one of nine communities across Santo, Paama, Tanna and Malekula gaining solar-powered water under this REnew Pacific project, with the systems at Petervat and Lerengrong both switched on in recent weeks. The project is also equipping 24 schools and health centres with solar and training locals to run the systems themselves, reaching more than 5,100 people in all. Find out more here.

In Fiji, that everyday difference reaches the teachers who live where they work. Through REnew Pacific, It’s Time Foundation is powering more than 30 remote and maritime schools along with the staff houses on their grounds so teachers posted far from the nearest town finally have reliable light and power at home. It means preparing lessons in the evening and keeping a phone charged are no longer a daily struggle, making remote postings easier to live in, and helping schools keep the teachers their students depend on. Find out more here. Find out more here.

And in Papua New Guinea, one of REnew Pacific’s earlier pilots shows how far a single household system can reach. Through Sola PayGo, delivered under the Business Partnerships Platform, more than 7,000 families in remote communities have swapped kerosene, candles and torches for pay-as-you-go solar at home, gaining an average of 35 extra usable hours a week. Nine in ten households say their children are now studying more and quality of life improved for nearly everyone surveyed. One teacher put it simply: “We finally have a better lighting system in our home so I can stay up late to mark my students’ papers and prepare their lessons. My children can also finally study well.” Find out more here.

This is what the energy transition looks like at its most personal: a lamp, a fridge, a charged phone, water closer to home. It’s the difference REnew Pacific is working to make across the Pacific and Timor-Leste by supporting locally led projects that bring clean, reliable energy within reach of the communities furthest from the grid. These projects are all part of the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership (PCIFP), a $350 million initiative for climate infrastructure in the region, delivered by the Australian Government’s Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) and implemented by Palladium.

You can hear more about this work at Pre-COP, where REnew Pacific will feature in the Powering the Pacific: Climate Resilience, Energy Security and Developmentsessionon Monday5 October. The session brings Pacific and Australian leaders together to share on-the-ground impact and insights from across the region. One of the teachers from It’s Time Foundation’s Fiji schools will speak to what reliable power has meant for her school and community. Register here.

Join us each week for a new story as we count down to COP31.

This week’s countdown comes from the Australian High Commission in Samoa, at 6 weeks to go.

The post Everyday connections beyond the grid appeared first on REnew Pacific.

Announced today, the project marks a major milestone for Samoa as the country’s first project through Australia’s REnew Pacific program and the first-ever investment by the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) in Samoa.

Led by the Electric Power Corporation (EPC), in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD), and supported by the Australian Government, the project will install solar and battery systems for 108 households and five community fales across Upolu and Savai‘i. It will also upgrade a mini-grid power network on Apolima Island to provide 24/7 renewable electricity to 11 households.

While Samoa has achieved high electricity access overall, some rural and island communities remain beyond the national grid, relying on wood fires and kerosene lamps for light and cooking. Replacing these with clean solar power will improve health and safety, support study and small businesses, and help communities better withstand climate impacts while contributing to Samoa’s goal of 70 percent renewable energy by 2031.

“This first-ever AIFFP-funded project for Samoa marks a milestone not only for EPC but for our nation’s journey toward universal access to clean energy. Through REnew Pacific, EPC will deliver reliable solar and battery systems to families who have waited the longest for safe power. This investment is a tangible expression of Australia’s friendship and shared commitment to Samoa’s sustainable and resilient future,” said Fesola’i Tau‘ili‘ili Faumui Iese Toimoana, General Manager of EPC.

This locally led project is the latest milestone for REnew Pacific, the Australian Government’s $75 million investment delivering off-grid renewable energy to rural and remote communities across the Pacific and Timor-Leste, including Samoa.

“Australia is proud to be working alongside Samoa to deliver clean, renewable energy to families and communities across the islands. This first REnew Pacific project in Samoa shows what true partnership looks like: local leadership driving lasting change,” said Will Robinson, Australia’s High Commissioner to Samoa.

REnew Pacific is a five-year program launched in November 2024, operating across eight countries in the Pacific and Timor-Leste, including through earlier pilot projects. It delivers locally led clean energy projects that improve lives and strengthen resilience in remote communities, responding directly to the Pacific’s call for urgent climate action and demonstrating Australia’s climate leadership in the region.

REnew Pacific sits within the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership, a AUD 350 million initiative delivered through AIFFP and implemented by Palladium.

Find out more about the project.

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