- The 4 MW plant will be deployed in Lagoon le Rocher on Mahé Island.
- Construction will likely begin in the second quarter of this year, while details of the 25-year power purchase agreement should be finalized by the end of March.
The Seychelles Energy Commission has announced that Quadran (Seychelles) Ltd., the local unit of French renewable energy company Quadran International, has won a tender to build a 4 MW floating PV project.
According to the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), an institution linked to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the 25-year PPA will be finalized within the first quarter, while construction of the plant will begin in the second quarter.
“By using floating PV, Seychelles can maximize their solar PV potential and therefore rely on clean, renewable energy sources rather than imported fossil fuels,” the ALSF said. “As mentioned before, floating PV solves the twin challenges of land constraints and clean energy generation.”
In a separate report, the Seychelles state news agency revealed that the company, which is a part of French oil giant Total. was able to win the tender by submitting the lowest bid of $0.095/kWh. The pre-qualified bidders included Italy’s Building Energy South Africa, Spain’s Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, French companies Générale du Solaire, Total Eren, GreenYellow, Quadran (Seychelles), Norway’s Scatec Solar, Masdar, Solar Philippines, Voltas Ecobiotech, Vetiver Tech, and Corex Solar.
The Seychelles currently covers most of its power demand with diesel power generators on Mahé (69 MW) and Praslin (12 MW) islands, as well as a 6 MW wind power plant that was commissioned in 2013. The government aims to increase the share of renewables to 15% by 2030.
Author: Emiliano Bellini
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
