- French renewable energy IPP, Qair Energy, has signed four power purchase agreements for Solar PV and Battery Storage (BESS) Hybrid Facilities with the Central Electricity Board (CEB) of Mauritius.
This investment, worth more than Rs 7 billion (approx. 163 M USD), represents the largest investment in the energy sector over the last fifteen years in the country, and one of the largest in the Indian Ocean.
Totaling 60MWac, the projects, will enter construction phase this year to be commissioned in 2024.
The four Stor’Sun solar plants located in Trou d’Eau Douce (SS1 and SS2), Balaclava (SS3) and Petite-Rivière (SS4) will integrate large scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to provide a clean and firm renewable power to the grid.
This flexible and scalable technology allows the massive integration of renewable energy on the grid by shifting solar power production for the evening demand peak where traditional solar plant do not produce. They are also designed to provide stability to the grid using the latest BESS technologies thus contributing to the phasing-out of fossil-fuel powered plants.
“As a well-established player in Mauritius with three power plants currently in operation totaling 35MW, we are pleased to accelerate our contribution to the country’s ambition to reach a 60% share of renewable energy in its electricity mix by 2030, phasing out coal,” says Olivier Gaering, Managing Director at Qair Mauritius.
The signature took place on 7th February between Mr. Radhakrishna Chellapermal, Chairman of the CEB, and Mr. Olivier Gaering, Managing Director of Qair Mauritius, in the presence of Mr. Chavan Dabeedin, Renewable Energy and Strategic Projects Manager of the CEB and Mr. Cyril Luiz Oudin, Business Development Partner at Qair.
A subsidiary of Qair Group, Qair Mauritius develops and operates solar and wind power plants in the country since 2008. The company operates a 9.3 MW wind farm (Plaine des Roches), the first wind farm in the country, and two solar farms with a combined capacity of 25.3 MW.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
