Electricity through solar energy for 6 islands

Renewable Energy Maldives (REM) together with the State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) kick started a project yesterday, to generate electricity using solar energy in 6 islands in Male' atoll.

Feb 2, 2012 - Ahmed Rishan - haveeru.com.mv

Electricity was generated using the solar panels fixed on the roof of the Muhiyiddeen school in Villi Male’ yesterday.

The project was inaugurated by the visiting Parliamentary Secretary at the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Katherina Reiche and the Maldives environment minister, Mohamed Aslam.

Aslam said that this project was a step forward in making Maldives a carbon neutral country. He also said that the state currently spends 16-20% of its budget on oil imports, most of which is used to produce electricity.

STELCO stated that the solar panels fixed on the roof of the Muhiyiddeen School would generate 61 kilowatts of electricity, which is enough to power 30 houses.

STELCO also said that they planned to create 294 kilowatts of electricity using solar energy in Villi Male’ by fixing additional panels on apartment complexes and government buildings.

The other five islands included in this project are Maafushi, Guraidhoo, Himmafushi, Kaashidhoo and Thulusdhoo. The project aims to generate a total of 652 kilowatts of electricity using solar energy.

REM said that under this project, a unit of electricity would be sold to STELCO at 3.9 laari.

Chief technical officer of STELCO, Dr. Zaid Mohamed said that re-selling electricity purchased from REM would reduce the company’s current expenses on oil. But the cost effectiveness of using solar powered electricity can be determined after using the solar panels for a month or so, Dr. Zaid said.

STELCO also stated that the fixing of all the solar panels in Villi Male’ would be completed by the end of this month. It would take another 2 months to fix solar panels in the remaining 5 islands, STELCO said.