- A 16.3 MW solar farm has been commissioned and connected to the Mauritian grid last week.
- The plant is located at Solitude near Port Louis.
- The €20 million project was developed by Voltas Yellow Ltd on 33 hectares of land.
Last week the Mauritian Government announced the commissioning of a 16.3 MW solar farm which feeds the industrial zone of Solitude, near Port Louis. The solar plant feeds into the Central Electricity Board (CEB) national electricity grid via the Riche Terre substation and is expected to offset 28 280 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
The Government press released stressed that the solar park is a move to replace the country’s energy mix consisting mainly of coal fired power with clean, renewable energy.
Mauritius’ Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Ivan Collendavelloo confirmed that the €20 million project was developed by Voltas Yellow Ltd on 30 hectares of land.
“At present, six solar farms are operational in Mauritius, and four additional ones will be constructed in the months to come,” Collendavelloo added.
The minister also noted that the small archipelago is supporting distributed solar through net metering and rebates. “The Central Electricity Board (CEB) will pay for the installation of the photovoltaic panels on the rooftops of those 10,000 households which have been identified,” he added. Read more
The Government of Mauritius has announced plans to increase use of renewable sources of energy from the current 22% to 35% by 2025. While bagasse (sugarcane waste) remains the key source of renewable energy (16%), Mauritius will also include hydro, wind, landfill gas and solar energy production in the mix.
The government seeks international competitive bidding for all its power projects and favous joint ventures between the local private sector and international firms. The Central Electricity Board (CEB), the power utility, has increased grid absorption capacity of intermittent energy from 148 MW to 160 MW over the las year.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
