Seychelles Energy Commission Initiative

Winner GTI Awards 2020 – Renewable energy and energy efficiency

General information:

Island (Region, Province, Country):
Seychelles

Population:
96000

Budget / cost of the project:
495,000 SCR (Grant, donations, CSR and others)

Project objectives:

Background

Seychelles is more than 90% reliant on imported oil for its energy needs, which is of significant economic and budgetary cost, and the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the country. Fuel demand continues to increase as a result of continued expansion of the electricity distributing system, the rising standard of living and increased foreign investment projects. Seychelles has great potential for replacing some of the current oil-generated electricity with solar energy systems.

Project Objectives

The main objective of the project are:

• to increase the use of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems as a sustainable means of generating electricity.
• To reduce electricity expenses.
• To be used to educate students on the theory and practical knowledge of PV and in case of secondary school, incorporate RE technologies in their curriculum
• To act as demonstration project to surrounding communities
• To create job opportunities
• To gather crucial data for PV systems which will be beneficial to the Energy Commission and Government.

Project description of activities and specific interventions:

The project was planned to undertake installation of PV systems approximately for a capacity of approximately 4 to 5kWp (or according to the school’s demand and capacity to integrate to the grid) on all the public schools located on the three main islands of Seychelles (Mahe, Praslin and La Digue) which altogether makes a total of 32 schools. This project is being implemented/facilitated by the Seychelles Energy Commission (SEC) in close collaboration with PUC and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Ministry of Education and their Eco School department, Ministry of Finance and that of Land Use and Habitat along with sponsors wherever applicable. The implementing body also manages the fund allocated/obtained for the project by forming a technical working group, which will be used to help to reduce the upfront cost of a PV system.

SEC provides technical assistance for quality control including supervision, physical verification, inspection, and monitoring and market study to ensure a smooth implementation of the project. The systems installed will have to meet the technical specifications established by the SEC, in order to connect to the grid. The project was implemented in phases, at times one school with such an interest. To date, Six schools have already embarked on this initiative.

The list of schools along with their capacity and donors are given in the table below:

1. La Digue School with a capacity of 13 kW installed in 2015 with the support of GOS-UNDP-GEF PV Project and Private Donors
2. Praslin Secondary School with a capacity of 3 kW installed in 2012, which was disconnected due to technical issues was re commissioned in 2016 with the support of GoS-UNDP-GEF PV Project, PUC and Lemuria group of hotel.
3. Baie Ste Anne Primary School with a capacity of 4kW installed in 2016 with the support of Environmental Trust Fund
4. Grand Anse Primary School  with a capacity of 4kW installed in2016 with the support of Island Conservation Society
5. Anse Etoile Primary School with a capacity of 4 kW installed in 2017 with the support received from Mauritius Commercial Bank, Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority, Cable &Wireless as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
6. Bel Eau primary school with a capacity of 2.9 kW installed in 2016 with the support of a personal donor to the school.

Currently Anse Royale Secondary school has shown interested and requested assistance form the SEC.

The project also focus on implementing few energy efficiency measures such as insulation, retrofitting of computer and other air-conditioned rooms to minimize energy use, use of efficient lighting (LED) in classroom and for security lights.

Public outreach, education and awareness efforts and results:

The PV education & awareness campaign targets three groups:

1. The general public: This group includes everyone in general. The campaign should result in increased general knowledge among all sectors of society about PV, how it works, its benefits, 4 and where to get more information about installation. It should also result in more households deciding to invest in PV.
2. Small and medium enterprises: This group includes mainly the owners and managers of small and medium businesses, which can include farms, clinics, shops, small hotels and guesthouses, restaurants, small industries, etc. The campaign should result in more businesses making inquiries about PV systems and investing in their installation.
3. Decision-makers: This group includes Ministers, PS’s, CEO’s of government parastatals and MNAs. The campaign should result in increased active promotion of PV in various sectoral plans and more installations of PV systems on government buildings.

The education and awareness activities result in:

• the creation of a website to with all relevant information and links to PV supplier,
• the creation of sticker install in public buses and at bus stop,
• the broadcasting of animated TV spot
• the creation of different communication support for exhibition (banner, poster advert, sticker),
• the implementation of rebate scheme program.

Economic value added and how calculated:

Potential users are aware of PV technology and its benefits, and motivated to look into investing in a PV system. Potential users actually invest in PV during the timeframe of the project.

The public Utilities record each year the installed capacity for each customers connected to the grid (household, industry and public entities) so we are able to follow the installed capacity trend.

Ecological and social project outcomes:

• Reduction of carbon dioxide emission and other pollutant emission due to fuel used for electricity generation.
• Create an interest in children in regards to renewable energy field and present them work opportunities.
• Promote PV system advantages to other public entities and household through children.

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