During severe weather events, demand for medical care can rise at the very moment power systems, roads, supply chains, and emergency services are under the greatest pressure. Fiji has already seen how devastating the consequences can be when severe weather, health emergencies, and power disruptions collide. 

Reliable Power for Essential Services 

Reliable power is not just about keeping the lights on. In a hospital, reliable electricity can determine whether care continues safely and without interruption.  

In a hospital, electricity helps keep essential care running, including nebulizers and oxygen machines that support patients with breathing difficulties, defibrillators that save lives during a cardiac arrest, the beeping monitors that help health workers track a patient’s condition, vaccine fridges, and medical testing equipment. It also supports communication systems used to coordinate emergency response, and patient care.  

Solar power does not only help reduce electricity costs over time. It also strengthens energy resilience for such essential services. And, such reliability can make the difference between life and death. 

The Fiji Tourism Development Program in Vanua Levu (Na Vualiku Project) is undertaking a feasibility study to assess how solar power can help reduce electricity costs, increase the use of clean energy, and support better public services in Labasa and Savusavu. 

Savusavu Hospital has been included as one of the sites under assessment. 

Image: Savusavu Hospital

Assessing Solar Power at Savusavu Hospital 

This is particularly important for a key sub-divisional health facility that forms part of the wider public healthcare network in the Northern Division. In this context, reliable electricity is not only important for one facility. It supports continuity across a wider system of care. 

Savusavu Hospital already relies on dedicated backup power arrangements during outages. The feasibility study is looking at whether solar PV can complement existing systems and provide additional resilience, while also considering the hospital’s building structures, electrical systems, future power needs, safety requirements, and long-term maintenance arrangements. 

Why Rooftop Solar Is Being Considered 

The current assessment is focused on rooftop solar because available land within the hospital site is limited and may be needed for future health service needs. Rooftop installation also offers a practical, lower-impact option for a working hospital environment. 

The feasibility study is reviewing roof areas that are more suitable for assessment, including the central building with a newer roof and the main building above the Emergency Department, where roof upgrading is already underway.  

Image: Google image of the Savusavu Hospital

Supporting Future Health Needs 

The study will also consider practical needs such as vaccine refrigeration, emergency services, and the hospital’s future energy demand as services and equipment expand. If solar PV is installed, hospital electricians and relevant technical staff would be upskilled to support system monitoring and maintenance. 

If the site meets the required technical, structural, financial, environmental, and social criteria, the next phase would move into detailed design, supply, and installation. 

A Wider Shift Toward Resilient Energy 

For patients sitting in a waiting room, for health workers responding to urgent needs, and for families depending on care during difficult moments, energy resilience is not an abstract issue. It is part of what allows a hospital to function when people need it most. 

Fiji’s health sector is already moving toward cleaner and more resilient energy solutions, particularly for rural and maritime facilities.

This is part of the country’s broader commitment to increase renewable energy use, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, and strengthen climate resilience across essential public services. Fiji’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Implementation Roadmap 2017–2030 targets close to 100 percent renewable energy power generation by 2030.

Recent solar installations at facilities such as Lomaloma Sub-Divisional Hospital in Vanuabalavu show how solar power can support 24/7 electricity, oxygen concentrators, refrigeration, and emergency care. 

The assessment at Savusavu Hospital builds on this wider national shift by examining whether rooftop solar PV can safely and practically strengthen energy resilience at one of the Northern Division’s key sub-divisional health facilities. 

Through this work, the Na Vualiku Project is supporting practical steps toward cleaner energy, lower operating costs, and more resilient public infrastructure and essential services in Vanua Levu. 

A new feasibility study to help reduce electricity costs, increase the use of clean energy, and improve community services across Labasa and Savusavu.

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MTCA), through the Fiji Tourism Development Program in Vanua Levu (Na Vualiku Project), has commenced a feasibility study to assess solar power options for  key municipal buildings in Labasa and Savusavu in Vanua Levu. 

The study responds to ongoing challenges in the North, including where municipal councils face high energy costs to power public infrastructure such as markets, bus stands, and parks, vulnerability to supply disruptions due to reliance on diesel-based electricity generation and exposure to climate related hazards. 

Elemental Power and Renewables, a consulting group based in New Zealand, which has been engaged to carry out the feasibility study, is in Vanua Levu already assessing whether solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can be installed safely and effectively at selected sites.

The team began its first on-the-ground stakeholder meetings in Suva with key organisations including Energy Fiji Limited (EFL), the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC), and the Department of Environment. These discussions support early alignment on technical requirements, regulatory considerations, and safe grid integration options.

The feasibility study will provide the technical and financial information needed to guide next steps for solar PV installations in Labasa and Savusavu.

When public buildings and facilities pay high power bills, it reduces the resources available for other essential services. Solar power can help lower operating costs over time, which may allow facilities to reinvest in improvements that benefit the public.

This feasibility study also supports Fiji’s shift toward cleaner, more sustainable energy. That means less reliance on traditional energy sources and more long-term resilience for public infrastructure, especially as communities face rising costs and changing climate conditions.

In Vanua Levu, the team is carrying out technical site inspections and collecting detailed data on power use as well as weather patterns. The team will also be considering the structural integrity of the structures to accommodate solar panels. The feasibility study will investigate and identify possible options for solar PV installation for Savusavu and Labasa Municipality areas.

The study will also include environmental and social risk screening, financial and economic analysis, and the preparation of procurement-ready documents to support the next steps. Stakeholder engagement and capacity building will form a critical part of the assignment.

The Na Vualiku Project is a government-led initiative designed to unlock the sustainable tourism potential of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. The Project is funded through a loan from the World Bank and is implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation as the lead agency, in collaboration with Fiji Airports and Fiji Roads Authority.