In Seychelles, French developer Qair, has been selected to develop the largest floating solar power plant to be installed on saltwater in the world.

The 5MW plant will be the first project led by an Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Seychelles.

The project, which is anticipated to commence July, will be built on a lagoon on Mahé, the main island of the archipelagic nation. The company claims it will be the world’s largest floating PV project to be installed in a saltwater environment when it is completed by the end of this year.

The tender launched by the government in 2018 gave the best technical and financial score to the consortium made of Quadran Seychelles and local solar player VetiverTech.

The 25-year PPA contract with Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) is expected to be signed in February 2020, with commissioning expected by the end of 2020.

First IPP project in Seychelles

The project is the first solar array to be spearheaded by an IPP in Seychelles, claimed Qair. The solar plant will require 13,500 solar panels, which will be built across 40,000 square metres of water.

Upon completion, the installation will account for about 2% of total power generation in the island nation.

The company secured the project through a government tender in 2018, when the group still operated under the Quadran brand.

It bid for the floating PV project as part of a consortium involving Seychelles-based PV installer VetiverTech.

According to IRENA, the country currently has an installed 0.9MW of solar capacity by the end of 2018.