Solomon Islands National Energy Policy, 2014

The 2014 Solomon Islands National Energy Policy (SINEP) supports the National Development Strategy (NDS) by improving the effectiveness of the Solomon Islands' energy sector in providing reliable, affordable and clean sources of electricity. The energy sector is a key enabling factor to support its poverty alleviation effort, accelerate access to better health care and education services, and improve the standard of living and livelihoods of communities. However, access to electricity is currently low even in urban areas. Moreover, the widely scattered islands with small, isolated communities make sustainable energy development challenging. Thus, energy policy changes are needed to increase energy access, private sector participation and foreign investment, and also to create fiscal incentives for improving energy access, efficiency and activities that will contribute to the expansion of the economic base. The SINEP therefore envisions unlocking the development potential of Solomon Islands' economic base through a dynamic and effective energy sector. Its mission is to provide the base for appropriate coordination, planning, promotion, development and management, and efficient use of energy resources. The broad outcomes intended are strengthening the energy sector leadership and planning increasing access to electricity in urban areas to 100% by 2020, increasing access to electricity in rural households to 35% by 2020, increasing access of safe, affordable and reliable petroleum fuels to outer islands and remote rural locations, increasing the use of renewable energy sources for power generation in urban and rural areas to 79% by 2030, increasing the development and penetration of gaseous fuels and alternative liquid fuels from indigenous raw materials, improving energy efficiency and conservation in all sectors by 10.7% by 2019.