Seychelles embraces green power
SEYCHELLES : On two islands surrounded by deep turquoise water, the
blades of eight wind turbines spin, providing a rare source of green
energy for the port of Victoria, the Seychelles capital.
The popular tourist archipelago far out in the Indian Ocean is almost
entirely dependent on imported fossil fuels for power, but is now
embracing renewable energy. The new wind farm here, opened in early June
and funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, has a total capacity
of six megawatts, enough for some 2,000 houses in Mahe, the main island
of the Seychelles and home to 70,000 people, around 90 percent of the
population of the archipelago. The turbines are the first opened in a
plan to provide at least 15 percent of the Seychelles power needs from
renewable sources by 2030.
"The decision to produce electricity using renewable energy was taken
in 2008, after oil prices peaked, to ensure energy security," said Tony
Imaduwa, acting head of the Seychelles' energy commission.
Currently, the islands "are 95 percent dependent on imported oil",
the Indian Ocean Commission, a regional body, and the European
Commission said in a joint statement in early June.
Since then, the EU has announced 15 million euros ($20 million) in
funding for renewable energy projects in the wider Indian Ocean region,
including the Seychelles but also for Mauritius, Comoros and Madagascar.
"The IOC countries are highly vulnerable to the effects of soaring
oil prices," the two institutions added. "Yet the region has a large
potential for renewable energy (hydro, solar, wind, geothermal) that is
underutilised." Since the Seychelles decided to launch renewable energy
generation, it has also revised legislation to break the state's power
monopoly. "Now, companies that produce renewable energy can sell
electricity," added Imaduwa.
Reducing dependency on expensive fossil fuels is only one concern,
with the Seychelles also keen to boost greener sources of power.
Experts warn that the tiny nation -- the only one in the world where
half the land is a nature reserve -- is threatened by changing weather
patterns bringing harsher storms and much longer dry spells, and
environmentalists are working on projects to help combat the impact.
However, building up a reliable system for production of renewable
energy is still far off for the 115-island archipelago, whose economy
depends mainly on high-end tourism.
"Currently, the Seychelles does not have the financial resources to
undertake renewable energy (by themselves), as the equipment is still
too expensive," said Wills Agricole, a senior environment ministry
official.
"But thanks to the help of several countries, we are currently
conducting several projects that should allow us to reduce fossil fuel
consumption," he added.
Other green power sources are planned too. Mascareignes Seychelles, a
subsidiary of a French company based on the island of Reunion further
south in the Indian Ocean, has won a tender to produce energy from waste
incineration. Agricole notes that the project, if it materialises, will
take several years with many technical details yet to be resolved.
But he also points to other projects, including the installation of
solar panels on homes on La Digue, the third most populated island of
the Seychelles, and whose famous palm-fringed and white sand beaches are
one of the most popular with tourists.
"We have just started a pilot project with a South Korean company, KC
Cottrell, so that the island is completely self-reliant for power by
2020," said Agricole.
"This project will see a photovoltaic system on almost every house...
and gasoline vehicles will even be replaced by electric cars."
By September, La Digue -- currently supplied with electricity from a
generator located on the neighbouring island of Praslin -- should be
equipped with solar powered streetlights, added Nicolas Hoareau, head of
projects at the Seychelles Land Transport Agency.
"A Chinese company, ZET Corporation, has made a donation of 200
street lights," he said. For Andrew Grieser Johns, program coordinator
at the United Nations Development Programme, the Seychelles' target of
having 15 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2030 "is quite
possible to achieve."
The Seychelles hope they can even exceed that with foreign
investment.
"The figure will certainly be revised upwards -- even doubled --
because many foreign companies are investing in this area," said
Agricole.
AFP |