Electricity and Power

Overview: Electricity and power in the Commonwealth

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Electricity is an essential service for economic growth and poverty alleviation in the Commonwealth and beyond. From an economic perspective electricity provides countries a means and a backdrop to support and drive production processes in all manner of industries. From a social perspective it is not a coincidence that in the less developed countries, where access to electricity remains low, social services such as health and education remain inadequate.

Fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) are a major source of electric power in the Commonwealth, contributing on average 70% for each country’s electric energy requirements; followed by hydropower (27%), nuclear (1%) and other energy resources (1%). Several Commonwealth countries are highly dependent on one energy source for their electricity supply: Malta (oil contributes 100%), Trinidad (gas, 99.6%), Brunei (gas, 99%), Mozambique (hydropower 99.9%), Zambia (hydropower 99.4%), Botswana (coal 99.5%) and South Africa (coal, 94.7%). Relatively speaking the country with the most diversified sources of electric energy in the Commonwealth is Canada; the country effectively utilises fossil fuels, hydropower and nuclear energy resources. Electricity prices in Canada are some of the lowest in the world but Canadians are also the highest per capita consumers of electricity in the Commonwealth and among the highest in the world.

Select a Country:
Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas
Bangladesh Barbados Belize
Botswana Brunei Darussalam Cameroon
Canada Cyprus Dominica
Fiji Ghana Grenada
Guyana India Jamaica
Kenya Lesotho Malawi
Malaysia Malta Mauritius
Mozambique Namibia New Zealand
Nigeria Pakistan Papua New Guinea
Rwanda Saint Lucia Samoa
Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore
Solomon Islands South Africa Sri Lanka
St Kitts and Nevis St Vincent and The Grenadines Swaziland
Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tuvalu
Uganda United Kingdom United Republic of Tanzania
Vanuatu Zambia
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