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?

Show Cases, Installation Sizing and Costs

On the 29 October 2009 the local TV station in its News Bulletin showcased two PV installations

1. In the CEB premises in Rose Hill, 4 arrays of PV panels of a total capacity of 2KW, installer was Infra Solar. The system was in operation since the last 7 months and produced monthly an average of 200KW/h (or 200 units per CEB billing) of electricity. The utility company stated it was an example of a residential PV system, but the grid-tie inverter was not shown and no price was given.
2. In a private company IFS at Ebenes, a system with a capacity of 22KW, and using 4 SunnyBoy grid-tie inverters, installer was Blychem. The system costs was Rs 7Million which brings the price per Watt to Rs 318.18.

Electricity generation through PV is expensive but not as much as people would think and provided the installers or importers are not making easy money with their high profit margins. There are many people who think that by going to China or India and picking up a cheap inverter they would be able to get into the business of renewable energy without realising that the inverter should be approved and certified by the local utility company.

What will make people invest in a PV system is the ability to generate a revenue by selling the surplus electricity at a guaranteed Feed-In Tariff over a number of years. The amount of electricity generated should offset the personal consumption. Taking the example of an household with a monthly consumtpion of 300 units in other words 300 KW/h, the PV panels should be sized at least 5KW which will produce 500KW/h monthly and remaining capacity of 200KW/h will be paid back by the utility company. The monthly paid back should be sufficient for reimbursing any loan taken for the purchase of the system

Tilt Angle, abuse by Importers

Just a few words on the Tilt angle of Solar panels whether it is PV panels or solar water collectors its the same angle.


The above is a picture of a good Solar Water Heater with recent technology, but with incorrect tilt angle for Mauritius which is found 20 degrees latitude South. The evacuated tubes are tilted at a 45 degrees angle and should have been at an angle of 20 degrees instead. Implying that the solar water heater is not receiving the optimum amount of sunlight and lower water temperatures in the winter season. These solar water heaters are from China, its not that I am complaining on the quality of these products, but the following facts are;

1. The specificity of the Mauritian market has not been taken into consideration by the Chinese manufacturers which should have tilted there collectors at 20 degrees.
2. The importers of these products do not understand what they are selling, they are just interested in making profit. It seems that the cost price and import costs for a solar water heater of 310 litres amounts to around Rs 13,000 and same has been sold for an average of Rs 35,000 on the Mauritian market!!! There are no duty or any sorts of import taxes on these products.

Wish that the above abuses are not reproduced with Photovoltaic panels and Grid-tie inverters as it will kill the renewable industry in Mauritius and discourage the government initiatives. The next exercise of grants by the Mauritian Government for Solar Water heaters should force the importers to meet certain requirements like:

1. Minimum capacity of 200 litres
2. Correct tilt angle of 20 degrees for Mauritius

Good Tilt angle but using old technology still in Mauritius



Good Tilt angle with even older technology still in Mauritius

Why go GREEN?

1. Reduce climate-change effects, its a bit too late to prevent now. . .
2. Reduce Individuals Carbon foot print
3. Alternative to high fossil energy prices since crude oil reserves are also depleting
4. Preserve our nature for future generations
5. 2900 hours of annual sunlight equivalent to an average 7.95 hours daily. (Sunshine is free . . .)
6. Produce and sell energy at the individual level to the community, example electricity to the grid. (using your rooftop)

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.

Information on the Utility company

The only utility company in Mauritius is the CEB (Central Electricity Board) and supplies electricity to the domestic or residential market at 240 Volts with a frequency of 50Hz. The peak power supplied on its grid in 2008 was 378MW. However the CEB only produces 36.8% and the remaining 63.2% is from the Independent Power Producers (IPPs). 22% of the electricity already comes from the following renewable sources hydro(4%) and sugar cane bagasse(18%). When bagasse from the sugar cane is not available during none harvest periods coal is burnt instead by the IPPs.