This programme will consist of the installation of photovoltaic panels between the Central Electricity Board and public sector entities. The Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Joe Lesjongard signed 17 contracts on 12 May at the Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel in Port Louis. He announced the end of his ministry’s and the country’s dependence on certain Independent Power Producers (IPP).
Moins de dépendance sur les IPPs
For the past three weeks, the transition to green energy production has been in the news again with the dispute between the CEB and Terragen. According to Minister Joe Lesjongard, “we can no longer be dependent on certain operators. As a political leader, our mission is to defend the interests of the country and not of certain groups,” the minister hammered before adding that “the dispute with the former electricity producer, Terragen, was a reminder that the country could no longer depend on certain operators.” He also recalled that the production with coal will block the government’s objective, as stipulated in the last budget, to reach a 60% renewable energy production by 2030 and to make green energy a pillar of the economy. Thus, the government intends to put an end to the production of coal. “To date, 24% of renewable energy has been achieved in the energy mix, which includes bagasse and hydroelectricity,” he said. Regarding this scheme, the Minister announced that “the CEB Greenfield Renewable Energy Scheme was launched in October 2021 as one of several initiatives to increase the contribution of renewable energy in the energy mix. A cumulative capacity of 90MW has been planned for the current phase of the scheme. The maximum capacity of a project should not exceed 15 MW”.
Upcoming and ongoing projects
During the ceremony, a list of projects launched by the CEB was unveiled. Among them was the 8 MW photovoltaic farm in Henrietta, which is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in early 2023. The acquisition of a 20 MW battery storage facility, promotional tariffs on energy supply for electric vehicles (EVs), encouraging owners to charge their vehicles during off-peak hours, a charging point in businesses and offering public charging of EVs. Other programmes for the general public were mentioned such as CEB Solar PV Scheme for individuals launched in 2021 for a total cumulative capacity of 10 MW, CEB Solar PV Scheme for schools launched in December 2021 for a total capacity of 6 MW. CEB will soon proceed with a 2 MW floating PV plant at Tamarind Falls Reservoir and will be replicated in other reservoirs.
Minister Lesjongard drew attention to the fact that these projects involve parastatals, such as the Sugar Investment Trust, Rose-Belle Sugar Estate, Landscope Ltd, Airports of Mauritius, the Development Bank of Mauritius, Rodrigues Business Park Co. Ltd, the Mauritius Ports Authority and the Financial Services Commission. For his part, Jean Donat, General Manager of the CEB, stated that “the CEB is committed to remain firm in advancing the renewable energy agenda and optimizing the potential of this sector”.
