RNZ reports Austria is giving Vanuatu $US1 million dollars to help with its rural electrification programme.
In rural areas in Vanuatu, where most of the population live, just 17 percent of people have access to electricity.
The Daily Post said this puts Vanuatu at the same level of rural electrification as the most underdeveloped countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Access to energy, a critical condition for economic growth, has become even more pressing in Vanuatu in the wake of Cyclone Pam, which cut the country's GDP by 50 percent.
The Vanuatu Government is aiming to boost sustainable income generation through access to clean energy in the rural areas.
Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins (Workers from Vanuatu's electricity provider UNELCO repair power lines)