Seychelles committed to developing renewable energy capacity |24 January 2014

“Seychelles remains committed to the work of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and will further develop its capacity to transform its economy towards one which is sustainable from an energy perspective.”

The Minister for Environment and Energy, Professor Rolph Payet, said this at the opening of the 4th General Assembly of the agency held recently in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.

In his speech Minister Payet explained that Seychelles embarked on a renewable energy vision several years ago: “Last year we commissioned our first wind farm of 8 aerogenerators with a total output of 6 MW, financed by the government of the United Arab Emirates through MASDAR. We are pleased to report that so far we are impressed with the performance and its positive impact on our energy balance, as prior to that we depended 100% on fossil fuel energy.”

Minister Payet talked about the different new measures and tariffs launched last year to promote solar energy investments in the domestic sector in Seychelles, adding that there is a high level of interest by the local people in solar energy.  

“We also organised our first renewable energy industry fair last November with the support of France, which saw the participation of both local and foreign suppliers of RE tools and technologies.

 With the support of China we also implemented a solar light project for the main islands in the Seychelles,” Minister Payet noted.

But despite the progress and achievements, Minister Payet said that Seychelles faces a number of challenges especially in policy, planning and negotiations of renewable energy investments.
 
“Our small economy requires that we make correct decisions to ensure long-term benefits. We also need to make significant investments in our electricity grid to ensure that we can support the maximum inputs from renewable energy.”

Delegates attending the assembly included 55 ministerial-level participants, heads of state and delegation from approximately 150 countries and 120 organisations. Minister Payet took the opportunity at the launch of the event to thank IRENA for the progress made in supporting renewable energy in small island states.

He also expressed appreciation to the people and government of the United Arabs Emirates for their support and high level of commitment to IRENA.