Potential for electrification from biomass gasification in Vanuatu

At least 170,000 rural people in the Pacific-island nation Vanuatu (approximately 70% of the country’s population) live without reliable access to electricity. The few rural households that do consume electricity incur high prices for imported diesel fuel ($2–3/liter). Thus, there is an important role in Vanuatu for expanding cost-competitive, non-diesel alternatives for electricity generation.Informed by an interdisciplinary data synthesis and an extensive series of field interviews in Vanuatu, this paper analyzes the potential for converting reportedly obsolete timber plantation land into a dedicated feedstock supply system for new small-scale biomass gasifiers. The analysis draws upon geographic mapping of electricity demand and feedstock supply, a historical assessment of Vanuatu’s forest plantations, a techno-economic evaluation of investment in 10 kW and 30 kW gasifiers, and a discussion of important social-institutional factors.This analysis identifies up to 13 geographic matches between areas of rural electricity demand and potential feedstock supply. In addition, financial modeling suggests that the levelized cost of electricity from gasification is competitive (relative to diesel systems) given capacity factors of 15–40% or greater (corresponding to a cost of $1.60/kWh or less). Further research is recommended to examine the socioeconomic and ecological aspects of feedstock plantation establishment in Vanuatu.

Research highlights
► We use multi-disciplinary analysis to assess gasifier project feasibility in Vanuatu.
► We identify geographic matches between electricity demand & potential biomass supply.
► Gasifier electricity is found to be cost-competitive with diesel electricity.
► Further research is needed on impacts of feedstock plantation establishment.