- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help the government of the Maldives are set to tender for 20-30MW of solar generation capacity, to be installed in 1-2MW arrays across 20-25 of the state’s outer islands.
Floating solar could be set to contribute to the installations, with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology having stated the panels will be a mixture of ground-mounted, rooftop and “near shore lagoon” systems.
A pre-Christmas announcement on the ministry website stated the ADB will provide technical assistance in holding a tender for the public-private partnership solar “hybrid” systems which will help reduce the nation’s dependence on diesel as the Maldives government aims for carbon neutrality this decade.
A source close to the tender assistance plan told pv magazine the hybrid element of the solar arrays refers to a plan to add energy storage in a separate stage of development outside of the solar tender, which is expected to be opened around the middle of the year.
ADB’s support for the project will help to catalyse private sector investment in the solar PV sector in order to transform existing diesel-based power generation systems into hybrid renewable energy systems in the inhabited islands of the country. The project is expected to substantially reduce carbon emissions, decreasing the country’s diesel import bill and lowering the overall energy tariff.
Author: Max Hall
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
