Transitioning to Renewables

Te Aponga Uira (TAU) acknowledges strong and growing community interest in renewable energy (RE), electricity costs, and Rarotonga’s energy future especially with the current global fuel volatility.

TAU understands the frustration to transition to renewables and also understands that our customers want lower power bills and have faster progress on solar. TAU shares the sense of urgency to reduce Rarotonga’s reliance on imported diesel and transition to more renewable energy. Solar is already part of Rarotonga’s electricity supply, renewables will be growing, and TAU supports that direction. 6MW of solar will be added during 2026/2027 to the current contribution of renewable energy (RE) to take Rarotonga to 30% RE, with a further 8MW following that is in planning stages for 60% RE contribution by 2030.

Rarotonga’s grid has real technical limits, and those limits protect customers. Rarotonga is a small island system that has to remain stable on its own, second by second. Solar output can change quickly when clouds pass over, while demand also rises and falls through the day. If too much unmanaged and solar is connected, the system can become unstable which may result in customers experiencing a rise in power quality issues as well as frequent system wide outages. These limits are there to protect households, businesses, public services, and customers with and without solar.

Moving to higher levels of renewable energy requires careful, detailed engineering. The transition to renewables changes the electricity system from a relatively simple model – diesel generators supplying power through the network – to a more complex system with solar, batteries, inverters, control systems, backup generation and two-way flows across parts of the network. That shift needs to be planned and engineered carefully so the system remains stable and reliable as more renewable energy is added.

As mentioned, planning has started for the next stage of the transition. Work is underway to set out Rarotonga’s renewable electricity pathway, including the role of customer solar, larger-scale solar, storage, grid controls, network upgrades, connection standards and investment sequencing. These issues are also being considered through the National Energy Policy work currently underway.

TAU’s role is to keep the lights on and the devices charged for everyone on the island – households, businesses, hospitals, schools, public services, and customers with and without their own solar. That responsibility sits behind every decision TAU makes about how the system is run, how it is upgraded, and how new technologies connect to it.

TAU supports more renewable energy for Rarotonga and is also committed to its role to maintain reliable electricity today while helping build the electricity system the island needs tomorrow, properly managed, so the whole community benefits.

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