IDC lights up two more islands in the Seychelles
The Islands Development Company (IDC) inaugurated solar farms on two islands in line with its goal to run all its islands on renewable energy.
Image for illustration purposes
Seychelles, Victoria: The Islands Development Company (IDC) inaugurated solar farms on two islands in line with its goal to run all its islands on renewable energy.
The IDC, which is responsible for the sustainable development of the outer islands in the Seychelles and manages 14 islands, recently held the inauguration of solar farms on Astove and Farquhar islands.
Comprising 342 glass solar panels, the photovoltaic power station on Astove can produce 150 kW of electricity, which will cover 93 % of the island’s electricity consumption.
On Farquhar, the solar farm has 510 panels which give an output of 250 kW of electricity which means that 94 % of the island’s electricity needs will be produced by solar energy.
The launching of the two stations means that at the moment IDC has three solar farms up and running. The first solar setup was inaugurated in November 2018 on Alphonse.
IDC’s Chief Executive Officer, Glenny Savy, announced that a fourth, much bigger solar farm is under construction on Desroches. Expected to come online in June this year, the station will have a capacity of 2.5 MW.
“Before June next year, most, if not all IDC-managed islands will be using solar energy, meaning we will be using 100 % green energy,” said Savy.
“With the solar farms on Farquhar and Astove we no longer need to transport diesel from Mahe. This will bring a huge saving for these two islands,” added Savy.
Source: ESI Africa