Aruba
ABWAruba is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
17% of its electricity is wind and solar; 83% is still fossil. Both are true at once, and that tension is the whole story of the transition.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 3 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Aruba generates almost exactly what it uses, with next to nothing crossing its borders.
What this means
Electricity can be sold across a border like anything else, through high-voltage lines connecting one country's grid to the next. Buying it in means leaning on a neighbour to keep the lights on. Selling it means generating more than the country needs.
Also true of Aruba
Aruba is second in Latin America and the Caribbean for electricity used per person.
9,253 kWh per person per year, second of 42.
Aruba is third in Latin America and the Caribbean for wind.
Wind supplies 14% of its electricity.
Aruba's electricity is dirtier than the world average.
550 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour against a world figure of 458 — 20% above.
Aruba’s neighbours
Dominican RepublicCoal overtook gas on Dominican Republic's grid in 2022.
Puerto RicoOil overtook gas on Puerto Rico's grid in 2020.
VenezuelaVenezuela has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
HaitiHaiti has about as many people as the United Arab Emirates, and 220 times less electricity to share between them.
GrenadaGrenada runs almost entirely on oil.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Aruba. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.