The Republic of Seychelles has launched a tender to develop a 4 MW floating grid-connected solar power plant. To be located in Lagoon le Rocher, it will be the first utility-scale floating solar PV project in the entire African continent, according to consulting firm Multiconsult, the tender advisor for the project. It says this will be one of the first salt-water floating solar PV plants in the world.
Seychelles Energy Commission (SEC) is implementing the project, the off-taker for the project will be the Public Utility Corp. (PUC). The scope of work includes the development and financing of the project on a build-own-operate basis.
African Development Bank (AfDB) and Clinton Foundation-backed African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) are supporting the tender process, while Trinity International is a transaction advisor for the project.
Interested bidders and investors are invited to attend an informative session and site visit on April 26 on Seychelles' largest island, Mahé. The last date to register for this session is April 20. Further information is available on Multiconsult's website.
Recently, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) allocated 64.2 million AED ($17.48 million) for 2 projects in Seychelles. One of these is a 5 MW solar power farm to be developed by Masdar on the island of Romainville. It will also comprise a battery storage component.
Seychelles depends heavily on imported oil for its electricity consumption. The country wants to encourage renewable energy generation and is aiming to have a 5% share of renewable energy by 2020 and 15% in the total mix by 2030. In the long term, it wants to go 100% renewable, under Seychelles Energy Policy 2010-2030.