The Emirati independent power producer (IPP) Masdar is commissioning a 5 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in Romainville. The park is connected to a battery-based electricity storage system.
A new power plant is going into commercial operation in the Seychelles archipelago. The solar power plant was recently commissioned in the presence of the Seychelles authorities, including Ahmed Afif, the Vice President of the Republic, and Flavien Joubert, the Minister of Agriculture, Climate Change and Energy. The park is located on Romainville Island, 2 km from Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles.
The 5 MWp plant was developed and built in a partnership between Masdar, a company based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), the Seychelles’ electricity utility. The park is connected to a 3.3 MWh battery storage system installed on Mahé, the island that houses the capital Victoria.
Financing from Abu Dhabi Fund
In order to stabilise the electricity production, Masdar and the PUC installed a 33 kV transmission system. The solar plant was built with funding from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD). “By saving approximately 2,000,000 litres of fossil fuel per year, the Romainville Island Solar PV Plant will enable the country to significantly reduce its carbon footprint, provide a wide range of benefits to its people and empower small businesses. In addition, the project will make energy more affordable and accessible to the population,” says Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, the director of ADFD.
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According to the UAE financial institution, the solar power plant is capable of offsetting the emissions of 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2) per year. Currently, the Seychelles relies heavily on fossil fuels for its electricity production. Indeed, these polluting energies account for about 20% of the imports of this archipelago located off the coast of East Africa.
However, the Seychelles government has set itself the ambition of increasing the share of renewable energy from 5% in 2020 to 15% by 2030. The country is an archipelago of 115 islands and is therefore forced to operate with small power grids. Solar energy is very suitable for these sunny islands. As part of the Seychelles government’s energy policy, a 4 MWp floating solar power plant has also been installed in Providence lagoon on the outskirts of the main island of Mahé. The plant is operated by the French company Qair.
Jean Marie Takouleu
