Samoa
WSMSamoa is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
19% of its electricity is wind and solar; 56% 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 6 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.
Samoa 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 Samoa
Samoa's electricity is cleaner than the world average.
375 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour against a world figure of 458 — 18% below.
Samoa has taken the carbon out of its electricity fast.
538 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour in 2014, 375 in 2024.
Samoa’s neighbours
American SamoaAmerican Samoa generates no hydro electricity at all, in a region built on it.
FijiHydro overtook oil on Fiji's grid in 2018.
New CaledoniaCoal overtook hydro on New Caledonia's grid in 2010.
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.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Samoa. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.