FUNAFUTI — Tuvalu’s 14‑day State of Emergency over recent power disruptions comes to an end on Monday, 27 April, but the government says work to shore up electricity supply is entering a new phase with temporary and longer‑term measures now under way. Transport and Energy Minister Simon Kofe told reporters on Monday that generation is currently stable and that international partners are moving to provide backup while Tuvalu secures permanent replacements.
Kofe said recent blackouts were caused by network faults rather than failures of the island nation’s generators. “Generators are operating well. Recent blackouts were due to network issues, not generator faults,” he said, and added that a communication cable fault in the battery system that had hampered solar integration has now been fixed, allowing solar to contribute more reliably to the grid. The Government of Japan is exploring support to dispatch a Daihatsu specialist to assist maintenance of existing generators at the Tuvalu Electricity Corporation (TEC).
An Asian Development Bank‑funded rental generator is expected to arrive on 28 May to act as temporary backup, Kofe confirmed. The unit is intended to provide emergency cover for an estimated three to six months while procurement for permanent backup generators proceeds; the government expects bidding processes for those permanent units to be under way by early May. Technical advisors are already in Funafuti assisting on the ground with both operational and procurement tasks.
Australian technical teams will support improvements at TEC beyond engineering work, Kofe said, with specialists due to assist the utility’s financial systems and accounts to strengthen corporate resilience. Public Works Department and ICT teams are also cooperating with TEC to bolster infrastructure and system security, the minister said. Fuel supply was described as stable for now, with the next tanker delivery scheduled for 13 May; authorities are also working with Australia to increase fuel storage capacity to reduce vulnerability to future supply shocks.
The Government has also moved to address the humanitarian impacts of the outage. The Department of Energy, in partnership with the Red Cross, is conducting a survey to identify households eligible for hardship assistance as a result of disruption during the emergency period. Kofe said the assistance drive aims to target the most vulnerable families affected by prolonged outages and related service interruptions.
While the immediate risk has eased, Kofe warned that vulnerabilities remain and that the combination of temporary rental equipment, incoming technical assistance and accelerated procurement is intended to build resilience quickly. The coming weeks — the scheduled arrival of the ADB rental generator on 28 May, the planned procurement actions expected in early May, and the May fuel shipment — will be critical to determining whether Tuvalu can transition from emergency measures to a more stable, medium‑term energy arrangement.