Finally its Possible: The Grid Code is here . . .

On the 9th December 2010, the CEB has launched its project known as SSDG standing for Small Scale Distributed Generation based on the Grid Code.  It will buy electricity generated from Renewable Sources by Residential customers or other categories.   The project is limited to 200 installations or 2MW capacity, where 1MW is reserved for Residential producers.  The feed in Tariff for the first fifteen years is as shown below per kWh:

               Table A    Table B
Micro      Rs 25      Rs 21.25
Mini        Rs 20      Rs  17.00
Small       Rs  15     Rs  12.75


The project deserves a much better coverage than it was given on that day by the MBC TV station.  What is missing or considered as the next moves by the government are:

• incentives and financing mechanisms, 
• removal of taxes and customs duties on the equipments required.

The role of the C.E.B

During the last week end of the 2010 Football Worldcup final, the local TV showed that Mauritians could soon sell there excess power generated through renewable sources to the CEB (the national power company) with the coming Grid Code. It was also concluding the one year test it had been conducted.

What we would expect from the CEB now, is that it produces a list of authorised MANUFACTURERS and not SUPPLIERS for the grid-tie inverters and solar panels. As the CEB is the entity which owns the grid it will ensure that the power produced is compliant to its norms and safety regulations. Thus preventing cheap stuff from getting into the market which will not be able to perform upto the requirements or could be dangerous.

Pilot Project for residential SIPPs

On last Wednesday (10 Feb 2010) on our local TV station MBC1 in a local programme called 'Dossier' the following was said by an official of Maurice Ile Durable on the Grid-code.

A pilot project to purchase 2MW of electricity generated through renewable sources like PV, micro-hydro and micro-Wind turnines from households, would soon be launched. As usual there were no commitment on dates and tarrifs. The Maurice Ile Durable web site seems also to be under construction since last year or rather since its went online. It seems that this year another web site has been created. Lets hope we can see our suggestions posted on it.

The official also mentioned that they were expecting production capacities of 3 KW per household which would imply some 600 households would participate.

My apprehension with the Grid code is that there is no information readily available on any official web site. The tariffs have not been made public, why are things moving so slowly? By moving at this pace Mauritians will loose interest in the project.

Where are the Feed-In Tariffs for the Grid Code announced in Budget 2010?

Its the end of January and still no prices for the power to be sold to the utility company (CEB) as per what was announced in the Budget 2010 in November 2009. On the 13th of this month there was only a workshop on Grid Code and Feed-in Tariffs for Small Independent Power Producers (SIPP). A few local newspapers relayed the information with no real coverage except for this article from L'Express. The only figures given were that of the price at which the IPP were selling to the CEB (10~20 cents higher than it would cost the CEB to produce itself), and the price from which power should be purchased from households ranging between Rs(6.00 ~ 20.00).

Mauritians are waiting for the practical offers, incentives, subsidies and for the day they can spin back their meters to generate a revenue from their household. Where are the deliverables from the Consultants of Ea Energy Analyses? Or are we going to adopt a wait and see approach?

Copenhagen, what can we expect?

What will be Mauritius participation in implementing the treaty that will be finalized? It can only help in promoting the grid code faster where the country will be forced to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. The question is by how much, or will it be exempted due to its small size or threat due to the rising sea level? Will the country find funds to finance the incentives for the grid code?

Budget 2010 promises

Item 214 of Budget 2010 Speech says:

A study has been completed on the development of a National Grid Code to enable CEB to purchase electricity from Small Independent Power Producers (SIPPs) that adhere to the policy of promoting clean, renewable and local energy sources. At the beginning of January next year, the Ministry of Public Utilities will announce the prices at which SIPPs with less than 50 KW capacity will sell to the CEB.

HOW TO

Basically the following components would be required:

1. PV (PotoVoltaic) panels to turn the sun energy to DC electricity
2. Grid-Tie Inverter to turn the DC electricity to AC electricity (240V 50Hz in Mauritius)

By wiring the PV panels to the grid-tie inverter and the grid-tie inverter to the Grid you are done, you are already feeding electricity to your utility company. Seems simple but you better be wise by knowing whats really happening and the workings of the grid-tie inverter. On the Utility side there is nothing to be done except for the meters which will allow it to pay back your electricity production.

An analogy to what is happening, is water running back in your mechanical water meter and decrementing the counter, except for here in case of malfunction there can only be water spillage which is not as harmful as with electricity there may be risks of electrocution, fire, injury and death.

The GRID-TIE Inverter

There are quite a few features which are mandatory in such a type of Inverter and are required to be compliant with the "Grid Code". The Grid-Tie inverter will synchronise itself to the grid electricity frequency and produce a current with a slightly higher voltage to push back the power to the grid.

1. Electricity generated should only be pure Sine Wave and never modified one.
2. Anti-Islanding: Only when electricity is present in the Grid that it will produce its output. In other words when there is a blackout in the Grid it will shut off automatically, this is a very important feature which prevents Utility personnel from getting electrocuted during maintenance.
3. Protection against: Overload, Short-Circuit, Lightning (using appropriate surge arrestors)

Depending on its design the inverter can require a battery bank or be battery-less, an important aspect to be taken into consideration as batteries are not that cheap and will also need a charge controller.

The PV PhotoVoltaic Panels

There are 3 types of PV panels available on the market with different efficiencies and price ranges. The efficiency is the amount of sunlight energy a panel can transform into electrical energy. On a surface area of 1 square metre there is around 1000W of sunlight energy reaching the earth surface, of course figure is for a clear sunny day at noon.

1. Monocrsytalline panels, efficiency 15~30%, most expensive,
2. PolyCrystalline or MultiCrystalline panels, efficiency 13~20%, having a speckle reflective appearance, and less expensive than MonoCrystalline panels.
3. Amorphous panels or thin film panels are the least efficient and least expensive. Compared to the above 2 types they are flexible.

PV panels are connected in arrays, which can be in parallel or series or even a combination of both, to obtain the desired voltage for operating the grid-tie inverters or charge controllers. The total output in terms of power will be the sum of the individual panels output.

What is the "Grid Code"?

The Grid Code shall define the rights, responsibilities and conduct of various parties having access to the power system. It shall establish standard procedures and technical specifications for interconnection, planning, scheduling, dispatch of generating units and a set of technical regulations and performance specifications governing the development, operation, security and reliability of the power system to be complied with by all users (including existing and future distributed generation sources) for the ultimate benefit of all electricity customers. The Grid Code shall also specify the connection conditions namely, the technical power quality (viz flicker, harmonics, voltage regulation, ...), protection, metering, procedural, and safety standards for integrating the diverse distributed renewable generation technologies involved by a changing generation mix (diesel, coal-bagasse, hydro, proposed coal, wind, and other renewable sources) on the power system.

The above is from the terms of reference for the appointment of a consultant for the development of the "Grid Code" dated August 2008. The "Grid Code" exists in other countries (like Germany, France, Spain, US etc . . .) under different names.

Incentives by the Mauritian Government for Renewable Energies

The Mauritian Government has already started giving incentives to individuals and companies to turn to renewable energies

1. Setting up of the Maurice Ile Durable (MID) Fund in July 2008 for the transformation of Mauritius into a sustainable energy economy.
2. Grants of Rs 10,000 for purchase of a new Solar Water Heater since 2008 budget for near-eliminating the use of electric and LPG water heaters.
3. As from July 2009 the excise duties, road tax and registration fees for electric cars and hybrid vehicles have been half.
4. Finally the "Grid Code" which has not yet been implemented nor been published but has been developed as per the draft of Long-Term Energy Strategy 2009 -2025 dated September 2009. However it seems that the government is withholding implementation, waiting for PV panel prices to fall by 2011 as per comments on the local newspapers. The feed-in tariffs and net-metering will only be introduced by 2010 as per its action plan.