New Caledonia
NCLCoal overtook hydro on New Caledonia's grid in 2010.
Today coal supplies 37% and hydro 17%.
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.
New Caledonia 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 New Caledonia
New Caledonia has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Low-carbon electricity went from 14% to 27% in 5 years.
New Caledonia has no dominant fuel at all.
Its largest single source supplies just 37% of the grid.
New Caledonia’s neighbours
FijiHydro overtook oil on Fiji's grid in 2018.
Solomon IslandsThe Solomon Islands generates no hydro electricity at all, in a region built on it.
New ZealandNew Zealand is third in the world for geothermal.
SamoaSamoa is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
Papua New GuineaHydro overtook gas on Papua New Guinea's grid in 2023.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for New Caledonia. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.