The PV plant was successfully connected to the grid last month and will produce approximately 24 gigawatt-hours of clean energy a year and save approximately 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, according to ABB.
In addition to the central inverters, ABB supplied and commissioned on a turnkey basis the medium-voltage gas-insulated switchgear and power and distribution transformers, as well as a variety of high-voltage substation equipment such as the new plug and switch system (PASS), to monitor and control the plant. The PV plant was developed by the Tauber-Solar Group from Germany; the inverters are installed in locally built housings developed and provided by ABB’s partner company Conecon.
“The high efficiency and easy-to-maintain industrial design of our inverters and ABB’s local technical support are the key success factors for ABB central inverters," said Ajay Vij, country manager at ABB Mauritius. "All these together offer customers a real, bankable solution we are able to support for years to come.”
Mauritius, with its population of 1.2 million people, has high ambitions to increase its use of renewable energy sources in order to reduce its reliance on imported energy, Vij notes. For example, wind power is currently being introduced, and the Government has set clear targets for solar energy as well. Mauritius is also targeting large-scale PV plants and small-scale PV installations in commercial and residential buildings. Together with wind power, the share of renewable energy fed into the national grid has the potential to be significant.
"There is good potential in Mauritius for solar power, and I expect more projects to come," Vij added.