Overview

Resources and Consumption

American Samoa is a U.S. territory located on an island chain between Hawaii and New Zealand, with an area totaling 77 square miles, slightly larger than Washington, D.C. American Samoa has a population of about 58,000. The climate is tropical marine, with little seasonal temperature variation, a rainy season from November to April, a dry season from May to October, and an annual average rainfall of about 120 inches. Tuna fishing and processing dominate the private sector economy, with canned tuna accounting for an estimated 93 percent of the territory’s exports in 2004.

The territory lacks conventional energy resources and depends heavily on petroleum products shipped in by tanker to meet energy demand. American Samoa’s per capita energy consumption in 2006, at 147 million Btu, was lower than that of the United States, at 335 million Btu. However, the energy intensity of American Samoa’s economy is relatively high. In 2006, American Samoa consumed 32,301 Btu per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000 U.S. dollars, more than three times the U.S. average energy intensity. (Energy intensity is measured as total primary energy consumption per dollar of GDP.)

Petroleum

American Samoa does not have petroleum refineries, and only refined products are included in the petroleum tanker shipments to the territory. The territory mainly consumes diesel fuel, jet fuel, and unleaded motor gasoline.

Natural Gas

American Samoa does not produce or consume natural gas.

Coal, Electricity, and Renewables

American Samoa does not produce or consume coal. Petroleum-fired power plants supply nearly all of electricity demand. Potential renewable energy sources in this territory include solar, wind, and ocean currents. Trade winds occurring in the June through August winter season result in class 4 wind resources (up to 16.8 miles per hour at 50 meters above ground level) in the ocean surrounding American Samoa. However, the wind resources measured on the main island of Tutuila fall below class 3, which is the minimum considered suitable for most utility-scale wind turbine applications.

In order to study the full potential of solar photovoltaic panels on the island, the American Samoa Power Authority and the South Pacific Academy installed 12 solar photovoltaic panels at the academy and a data acquisition system to track their performance. American Samoa also adopted a net-metering policy in which producers of renewable energy can sell excess electricity back to the utility.