Tuvalu’s electricity supply is currently stable but remains fragile, Transport and Energy Minister Simon Kofe said on Monday as a 14‑day State of Emergency imposed during an island‑wide power crisis came to an end. Kofe told PACNEWS that recent blackouts were caused by network faults rather than failures of the island’s generating plants, and a series of short‑ and medium‑term measures are being rushed in to reduce the risk of further outages.
The most immediate step is a rental generator funded by the Asian Development Bank, expected to arrive in Funafuti on 28 May. Kofe said the unit will provide back‑up for an initial three to six months while the government completes procurement of permanent replacement generators; bids for those permanent units are due to be invited in early May. Technical advisors are already in Tuvalu to assist with on‑the‑ground tasks linked to the procurement and installation processes.
International partners are also supplying specialist technical support. Kofe said the Government of Japan is exploring deployment of a Daihatsu technical specialist to help service existing generators at the Tuvalu Electricity Corporation (TEC). Australia will deploy technical advisers to strengthen TEC’s financial and operational systems and is assisting efforts to boost the country’s fuel storage capacity as part of broader resilience planning.
Work to integrate renewable energy has seen progress, according to the minister. Kofe reported that solar integration into the grid has improved after compatibility problems with older generators were addressed, and that a communication cable fault with the battery system — which had hampered solar support — has been fixed. Those repairs, he said, now allow solar and battery systems to contribute more reliably to island generation.
Fuel availability, a critical variable for Tuvalu’s diesel‑dependent power system, is currently secure, Kofe added. The next tanker delivery is scheduled for 13 May, and measures to expand on‑island fuel storage are underway with Australian support to reduce vulnerability to supply disruptions. Public Works Department and ICT teams are also collaborating with TEC to strengthen infrastructure and system security, he said.
The government is directing some assistance to households hit hardest during the emergency. The Department of Energy and the Red Cross have begun a survey to identify families eligible for hardship support, Kofe said. The update marks a shift from immediate crisis management to a staged recovery that combines quick‑fix back‑up, technical repairs to improve renewable integration, and longer‑term procurement and resilience measures with bilateral and multilateral partners.