The construction of a floating solar power plant in Seychelles will be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Located on the lagoon at Le Rocher, in the central Mahe district of Les Mamelles; the utility-scale floating solar PV system will be the first in Africa
According to the chief executive of the Seychelles Energy Commission, Tony Imaduwa, construction was due to start this year but due to the COVID-19 situation issuance of the notice of intended award was delayed as the selected bidder will not be able to meet all the conditions set.
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The tender for the project
Part of the tender’s conditions required the bidder to be in the country to finalise the technical design of the plant but this has not taken place with the restriction on travel to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.
“Now that the notice of intended award has been issued, the successful bidder Quadran will have around five months to meet the conditions set before construction can start,” he said. “It is a crucial stage of the process. Maybe there will be some cost implications but the project is based on an Independent Power Producer (IPP) model where the IPP will have to finance, design, construct and operate the plant and sell electricity at a fixed rate over a period of time,” he added.
The project is Seychelles’ first independent power producer meaning the private sector will be responsible for designing, financing, building, and operating the power plant, selling electricity to the national grid at a predetermined price for 25 years.
