The Ile de Romainville Solar Park was constructed on the same island wind turbines producing clean electricity in Victoria harbor, Mahe Island, Seychelles. Image: byvalet@123rf.com.
 

The Republic of Seychelles has inaugurated its second clean energy project, a 5MW solar PV plant with battery storage.

 

Developed by Masdar and the Seychelles’ Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), the Ile de Romainville Solar Park was financed by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).

 

 The facilities include the 5MW solar PV plant located in Ile de Romainville, a 3.3 MWh energy storage system located on Mahé and a 33kV system that allows for the safe and stable supply of electricity from the PV power plant to the main island of Mahé. This system helps increase the resilience of the national grid of the Seychelles. It is estimated that the project will save approximately 2 million liters of fuel annually and offset 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

 

Seychelles relies heavily on fossil fuels to meet its electricity demand, with fossil fuels accounting for around 20% of the country’s imports. The country has set a target of 5% renewables by 2020 and 15 percent by 2030.  

 

AFDB Director General Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General, ADFD, said: “By saving about 2,000,000 liters of fossil fuel annually, Ile de Romainville 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. Moreover, the project will also make energy more affordable and accessible to the population.” 

 

Seychelles’ solar farm just the beginning

Joel Valmont, PUC Chief Executive, PUC called the solar plus battery project a bold step towards the stewardship of deploying medium to large scale renewables plants in the main islands of Seychelles.

 

“The successful realisation of this project instills confidence and valuable experience which will help towards the pursuit of environmental sustainability for the country. This achievement has strengthened the corporation in its ability to accomplish greater development of renewables in the power sector,” said Valmont.

 

The Ile de Romainville Solar Park was constructed on the same island hosting several ADFD wind turbines and Masdar’s first project in the Seychelles, the Port Victoria Wind Farm, which has been operational since 2013. The park’s PV array was specifically designed to maximise the use of available land, while allowing for the maintenance of the wind turbines and minimising any shading losses resulting from them. 

 

The park is part of the ADFD and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Project Facility. ADFD has committed $350 million in concessionary loans over seven funding cycles to support the establishment of renewable energy projects in developing countries.