LocationsBuilding Resilience with a Holistic Approach
June 2, 2026
The first time I stepped onto the shoreline near the Port Vila Fish Market mini-grid, I realized that designing energy systems from behind an office desk and standing in front of them in the Pacific are two completely different experiences.
I had just arrived for my first field mission under the Vanuatu Energy Sector Resilience Project (VERP), supported by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). For months, I had been working on plans, data and assessments for the project. But in mid-February, together with my colleagues Julius Mala from the Department of Energy, and fellow VERP Engineer Joel Galeb, I finally left the drawing board behind and went to see firsthand the infrastructure where resilience is truly tested.
Our mission has taken us across Efate, Nguna and Pele Islands, where we visited three sites: the Port Vila Fish Market mini-grid, the Utanlangi Village micro-grid, and the Tangovawia School micro-grid.
Standing beside those solar panels, with the ocean breeze carrying salt from the sea and the ground still soft from recent rains, I understood something very clearly: in Vanuatu, energy infrastructure must do more than generate electricity — it must also endure and survive.
Vanuatu lies on the frontline of climate and natural hazards. Cyclones, heavy rainfall, coastal erosion, flooding, and even volcanic activity are part of everyday reality. A solar system that works perfectly on paper can quickly deteriorate in the field if salt spray corrodes its components, strong winds weaken structures, or poor drainage allows floodwaters to inundate the site.
During the mission, my role was to assess these risks firsthand.
I inspected the solar PV systems, the mounting structures, and the surrounding areas to better understand how wind, water and the coastal conditions interact with the installations. I assessed soil stability and drainage patterns, noting where water accumulates during heavy rainfall. I also examined the surrounding vegetation, identifying opportunities where nature itself could serve as a protective barrier.
What struck me most was how much resilience can come from working with the environment rather than against it.
Muhan Maskey, Technical Specialist, Vanuatu Energy Sector Resilience Project.
Through the VERP project, I am helping promote nature-based solutions — simple but powerful interventions such as planting coastal buffers, establishing windbreaks with native vegetation, and creating bioswales to channel water safely away from infrastructure. These natural systems can reduce wind exposure, stabilize soil, and manage runoff in ways that complement conventional engineering measures.
At each site, I also spent time speaking with community members. They shared stories of past cyclones, flooding, and shifting shorelines. Their lived experience of how the land and sea behave during extreme weather is invaluable. Technical assessments are essential, but local knowledge often fills the gaps that maps and models cannot capture.
One of the most important outcomes of this mission will be the targeted resilience investments that follow. Using a structured multi-criteria assessment, the project is prioritizing sites where nature-based interventions can provide the greatest protection to solar mini and micro-grids. Measures such as windbreaks, erosion-control planting, and improved drainage will add an extra layer of defense for critical energy infrastructure.
For me, however, the deeper purpose of this work goes beyond installing protective measures.
What we are really trying to do is embed resilience into the way energy systems are designed, implemented and maintained in Vanuatu. By working closely with the Department of Energy, these risk-informed approaches can become part of standard planning and maintenance practices. That means future renewable energy projects will not only focus on generation capacity, but also on long-term survival in a changing climate.
As I wrapped up the mission and prepared to leave the islands, I looked once more at the solar panels standing between the land and the sea. They represent opportunity — electricity for markets, schools, homes and communities. But they also represent responsibility.
In a place like Vanuatu, infrastructurecannot simply be built and forgotten. It must be protected, maintained, and adapted.
That is what resilience means here.
And for me, this first field mission made one thing clear: building energy systems is important — but ensuring they endure is what will truly power Vanutu’s future.
For more information, please contact:
Muhan Maskey, Technical Specialist | Vanuatu Energy Sector Resilience Project | UNDP Pacific Office | (E) muhan.maskey@undp.org
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