Tag: renewable energy

South Asia Regional Task Force formed to promote use of renewable energy

A South Asian Regional Task Force (RTF) to promote use of renewable energy in the subcontinent has been formed to “facilitate public private partnership (PPP) to exchange information and views in an open atmosphere for developing specific projects in South Asia”.

Minister of Housing and Environment Mohamed Aslam called for the formation of a task force at the third meeting of the Asia Solar Energy Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this year, organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Addressing participants at the first meeting of the RTF currently taking place in Jodhpur, India, Minister Aslam said that the government’s goal was to generate 60 percent of power used in the Maldives from solar energy. Projects have been planned for three islands and are ready for implementation, he said.

In a statement to the RTF’s first newsletter, Aslam noted that solar energy power has “the best potential to reach grid parity in a timely manner.”

“Although the private sector has a great appetite to enter South Asia market, noting the strong commitment of the host countries’ governments, there are information and perception gaps on the policy and regulatory framework, technology transfer, and financial aspects,” reads Aslam statement. “To overcome these barriers, the close coordination, communication, and collaboration in an open atmosphere are needed at the stages of designing, construction and implementation among the policy makers, regulators, utilities, private sectors, e.g., technology providers, developers, and financiers, multilateral and bilateral agencies.

“RTF is to be formulated in order to exchange information and views among the various stakeholders to design, develop, and implement specific projects in a timely manner. RTF should be independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-political and technology neutral. In this regard, we welcome if Asian Development Bank can participate in RTF, as an honest broker.”

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President says Maldives must become carbon neutral at keynote address in London

President Mohamed Nasheed has said the Maldivian people are directly affected by climate change, and steps should be taken to achieve carbon neutrality.

In his keynote address at a London dinner hosted by the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice (MRFCJ), the President noted that the Maldives sat just two metres above sea level. He said that the low elevation makes the country vulnerable to natural disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami.

Nasheed also noted that over 70 Maldive islands have contaminated water supplies due to sea salt intrusion, and supplying desalination systems to all islands has doubled state expenditures.

Nasheed advocated for a deeper understanding of the climate, and urged stronger preventative measures against climate change.

Reducing carbon emissions was one key solution. Nasheed also urged his audience to develop a legally binding climate agreement.

Nasheed said the Maldives should replace fossil fuel with solar power and other renewable sources of energy as part of its commitment to reaching carbon neutrality.




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Marine current energy could help Maldives meet 2020 carbon neutral ambition

A team of researchers from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen have recommended that the Maldives seriously consider marine current energy as part of meeting its ambition to become carbon neutral by 2020.

The team visited the country in April and met with assorted energy stakeholders, interviewed divers, fishermen and boat captains, and hired a vessel to conduct current measurements.

According to the pre-feasibility report, “marine current energy in particular might provide a potential resource to add to the national energy mix.”

“Marine renewable energy has the distinct advantage of being very scalable, being to small mini-grid applications in communities, as well as larger scale installations for areas of high demand such as Male’. Furthermore, it is the only renewable energy that can have no visual footprint, an important consideration in a tourist dependent country such as Maldives,” the report stated.

The researchers noted that existing investigations of renewable resources, such as solar, wind and biogas, each had particular limitations in the Maldivian context.

“Solar shows the best resource potential of these but its implementations is restricted due to space restraints,” the report noted, while “despite numerous proposed wind projects, NREL (the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) indicates that the Maldives wind resource is ‘poor to marginal’.”

Biogas was more promising, the scientists said, particularly plans for a 3-5 megawatt waste energy plant near Male’, but this represented only a fraction of the current 38.76 megawatt installed capacity of STELCO’s existing fossil fuel setup.

The team investigated the potential for marine current and ocean thermal generation.

Marine current

The team modelled a number of channels to determine the power resource that would be technologically and economically exploitable, and found a significant variation depending on which direction the current was flowing.

The difference in total extractable resource was significant: when the current flowed east to west, the extractable power of all channels modelled was 106 MW, but only 28 MW when the flow was reversed.

The largest resources for east to west currents were found at Dhiffushi Kandu (31 MW), Gaadhoo Koa (25 MW), Thilafushi (14 MW), Emboodhoo Kandu (13 MW) and Gulhi Falhu (12 MW), while few of the channels provided much resource when the flow was reversed: just Kandu (15 MW) and East of Vadoo Island (9 MW). Gulhi Falhu and Emboodhoo Kandu, as marine protected areas, were unable to be developed as marine energy installations due to existing legislation, the report found.

“The reduced power available when the current flow in the west to east direction is partly due to the lower mean current speed in this direction, and partly due to the position of North Ari Atoll to the west of Male’ and South Male’. When the flow is from west to east it is slowed by North Ari Atoll before it reaches the Male’ and South Male’ Atolls,” the researchers noted.

They did however note that the monsoonal current model used for the calculations “did not take into account the effect of the other factors that affect the overall current speeds, such as tidal currents.”

The researchers suggested that the most applicable technologies for developing marine renewable resources in these channels would be “those designed for slower current speeds and shallow water sites”, but advised the government to remain “technology agnostic” until a detailed study of flows was completed over a longer period, “ideally a year”.

“Partnering too early with specific technology providers could result in a scenario whereby the Government of the Maldives is obliged to use technology that is not suited to the particular channel and current characteristics, and will not deliver maximum energy at the most economical cost,” the researchers warned.

Ocean thermal

The researchers also examined the potential for ocean thermal in the Maldives, a technology that converts thermal energy into kinetic energy by taking in deep cold water at depths of up to 1000 metres.

However a small 40 megawatt commercial facility requires a large displacement of water and can have a large environmental impact on the immediate area, due to noise and changing water temperatures, the scientists noted.

Moreover, the technology is exceedingly expensive with even a small 5-10 megawatt demonstration plant costing upwards of US$200 million.

“[Ocean thermal] was conceived over a century ago, yet there are still no operational commercial plants, and only one operational pilot plant (Hawaii). This is despite numerous feasibility studies and investigations by both countries and private enterprises, none of which have resulted in an actual installation,” the researchers noted.

“One of the main reasons that commercial OTEC power plants have not been built to date is their unfavourable economics in comparison to fossil fuel. Thus the challenge is to finance a capital intensive technology that does not have an operational record. The plant would need to be >50MW to be cost competitive in terms of $/kWh,” the report said, suggesting that this would price out the Maldives.

A small-scale water cooling system working on the same principle was trialed at Soneva Fushi resort, the report noted, whereby the cold water was to be used for air-conditioning and thus reduce the resort’s electricity consumption by 25 percent.

“Cold water (11-12°C) was pumped through a pipe from the 300m shelf approximately 3 km southeast of Soneva Fushi Resort. From the pump station, it was distributed to guest rooms and offices via an insulated underground piping system,” the report explained.

“Non-corrosive fan units in each room enabled the heat exchange between water and the surrounding air to bring the temperature down to comfortable levels. Unfortunately the project had some design flaws that resulted in it not delivering on cooling requirements as anticipated and it was thus decommissioned by Soneva in 2009.

“One of the problems encountered was that the pipeline wasn’t weighted down sufficiently, as with all the weights on it was still floating. Because the anticipated depth wasn’t reached, the water that was pumped in from the deep water intake pipe was not cold enough,” the researchers noted.

The report observed that while the current installed fossil fuel plants met Maldivian needs, “a very ambitious transition towards a renewable energy portfolio is needed to deliver on the ambition to become carbon neutral in 2020.”

“The Maldives is blessed with abundant renewable energy resources, but the ongoing energy programs in the Maldives until recently have had a substantial focus on electricity generation through diesel-run generators,” the researchers observed, “and little attention was given to promoting renewable energy production in remote islands to meet their energy needs.”

“There was a glut of proposed renewable energy projects announced subsequent to the declaration of the Maldives’ carbon neutral ambitions. Numerous MOU’s were signed, however, the absence of progress in these projects is causing concern,” they concluded.

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Maldives to receive up to US$30 million in alternative energy funding

The Maldives will receive up to US$30 million from the Climate Investment Fund (CIF)’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) to pilot renewable energy, the President’s office has stated.

CIF said the Maldives could potentially access a further US$60 million in reserve, following the CIF 2011 Partnership Forum being held in Cape Town, South Africa.

“The CIF’s Strategic Climate Fund gives priority to highly vulnerable least developed countries, including the small island developing states,” said the President’s Envoy for Science and Technology, Ahmed ‘Sappe’ Moosa.¨As momentum grows for climate action on the ground, the CIFs can be a real game-changer.”

The Maldives last year spent 25 percent of its listed GDP, a total of US$244 million, on importing fuel. Most of this was marine diesel used to power the country’s dhoni and speedboat fleet.

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Nasheed to personally install solar panels on roof of residence

President Mohamed Nasheed will climb onto the roof of the presidential residence ‘Muleaage’ next week and personally install US$30,000 worth of solar panels.

The panels, which are reportedly being donated by California-based solar panel company Sungevity, are expected to save the government US$100,000 in electricity costs over their 25-year lifespan.

The President’s enthusiasm for conducting the project personally is potentially a nudge at US President Barack Obama, whose aides recently rejected an offer of Carter-era solar panels delivered to the White House gate by environmental activist and 350 founder Bill McKibben.

“[The aides] explained that there were various reasons that the White House roof was not available for a gesture with very little energy-saving potential and that the Obama administration was doing more to promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions than any previous government. The word ‘stunt’ may have come up,” wrote the New York Times, in its Green Blog.

Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said that while the installation of solar panels on Muleaage was “obviously not going to turn the Maldives carbon neutral”, it was a symbolic act that would nonetheless show that the Maldives “is the most vulnerable nation in South Asia to spikes in oil prices, and has an economic imperative to embrace renewable energy.”

Nasheed would be wearing a harness and a hard hat, he added.

Bright idea

The uptake of solar panel technology has been limited in the Maldives apart from small scale installations on some islands and several grant-aid projects, said a spokesperson from Renewable Energy Maldives, who requested anonymity.

“I know of very few households that have taken up this sort of thing up in Male,” she said. “We haven’t worked much with resorts either – they tend to think short term, and there’s less interest from them compared to utility companies and island administrations.”

The latter demand stemmed from the potential return on investment for solar power units on remote islands with high electricity prices.

“On some of the islands the cost for a household unit can be paid back within 4-6 years,” the REM spokesperson said.

While the President’s plan to personally mount solar panels on his roof was “excellent” and would increase interest in the technology, there was still no mechanism in the Maldives to sell the electricity generated back into the grid.

If the State Electric Company (STELCO) would agree to buy electricity back from the grid, “that would be the best way to promote solar.”

“A building is a long term investment and if the owner installs solar panels and Stelco agrees to buy the excess power, it will really be an incentive to save energy,” she said.

“Having said that, there’s a lot more improvements to do with efficiency and conservation that we can do in Male’.”

Smaller applications of solar technology were proving more popular, she explained, such as solar hybrid air-conditioning units operating through heat exchange.

“They might cost a bit more [upfront] than an ordinary air conditioner, but they are 30-60 percent more efficient and the can pay for themselves in 18-24 months,” she said. “This is the sort of thing that has great potential in Male’.”

President Nasheed has previously promoted the country’s aggressive stance on environmental issues by conducting stunts such as an underwater cabinet meeting.

Members of the cabinet last year donned scuba gear and used hand signals to conduct the meeting, in front of international media.

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US$20 million grant for renewable energy in Maldives

The Strategic Climate Fund, one of two funds under the Climate Investment Funds scheme, will grant US$20 million (Rf255 million) to develop renewable energy resources in Maldives, reports Haveeru.

Delivery of the grant is expected next month and will be invested in the carbon neutral plan announced by President Mohamed Nasheed, according to deputy environment minister Dr Mohamed Shareef. “We cannot do everything with this money. We can only carry out [projects] in some islands, which we have yet to determine,” he said.

“The Program for Scaling-Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries, approved in May 2009, is aimed at demonstrating the social, economic, and environmental viability of low carbon development pathways in the energy sector,” says the Strategic Climate Fund website. “It seeks to create new economic opportunities and increase energy access through the production and use of renewable energy.”

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Maldives seeks to end oil addiction

The Maldives must cure itself of its addiction to oil and develop alternative energy sources from local resources if it is to prosper, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan said today at a UN roundtable held at Bandos Island Resort.

The occasion was the Maldives signing a commitment to phase out hydro-chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) emissions by 2020, a decade ahead of other countries, and one that has attracted an assistance grant of US$1.1 million from the UN.

HCFCs (such as chlorodifluoromethane) is used in older refrigeration and air-conditioning units as a replacement for heavily ozone-depleting CFCs, however it also is now considered too harmful.

“It makes sense to move away from HCFCs,” Dr Waheed said. “It is outdated technology and has already been phased out in most western countries, and it is increasingly difficult to repair appliances that use it.”

The move was part of the government’s larger agenda of becoming carbon neutral by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, driven by economic as well as environmental imperatives, the VP explained.

“The Maldives is highly dependent on oil. Our economy totally dependent on imported fuels, but we have absolutely no control over oil prices,” Dr Waheed said. “Our economy is slowly recovering from mismanagement of the past, and an oil price hike now would destabilise our economy. We all know how volatile oil prices are – and the global economic recovery means an increased demand, which is likely to increase prices further.”

Because of the country’s dependency, Dr Waheed explain, “a high oil price means a high cost of doing business. We want to break our dependence on foreign oil using our own natural resources: sun, wind and waves. In the Maldives renewable energy makes sense because imported oil is costly – it is very expensive to ship oil to small islands like the Maldives.”

The Maldives’ oil addiction meant that “today we have one of the world’s highest prices for electricity – 25-30 US cents per kilowatt hour, and there are some reports islands where people are forced to pay 60 cent per kilowatt hour. Schools complain that 25 percent of their budget is spent fueling their diesel generators.”

Addicted

A report published by the UNDP in 2007 on the vulnerability of developing countries to fluctuating oil prices ranked the Maldives dead last, a fair stretch behind Vanuatu, effectively placing the country among the world’s most oil-addicted nations.

“Island countries in general are extremely vulnerable to increased oil prices. They comprise distant and small markets and have to bear the burden of higher shipping costs, while electrical power generation is largely fueled by diesel,” the report noted.

President Mohamed Nasheed said that the Maldives stood perfectly placed to demonstrate to the rest of the world “that a less hazardous development pattern is possible, viable and financially feasible.”

He acknowleged the efforts of the previous government towards that development, noting that the Maldives was able to phase CFCs two years before its mandated deadline.

“I thank the previous government, especially former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, for his singular focus on CFCs, ozone depletion and the environmental issues he raised very early.”

He also acknowledged that even if the Maldives succeeded in demonstrating that a country could be powered by renewable energy and reached its goal of carbon neutrality, “what we do not have major impact health of planet.”

Rather, Nasheed said, the Maldives could prove to other countries that isolated communities could be self-sustaining.

“The window of opportunity this planet has is not so long – science is very certain and we have to act,” he said. “If we don’t, this planet will go on, with new equilibriums and balances that may not be receptive to human habitation – that is what we are trying to overcome.

“We have the technology already – it is a question of how bold we are in implementing it.”

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MWSC and Hitachi to improve water supply and sewage systems in Maldives

President Mohamed Nasheed attended the inauguration ceremony of Hitachi Plant Technologies’ participation in the operation of Malé Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) yesterday morning.

In January 2010, Hitachi and the Maldivian government signed an agreement to work in partnership with the MWSC, which is expected to lead to an upgrade of water supply and sewage systems in the country.

President Nasheed thanked the Japanese government and people for their assistance to the Maldives and expressed his hopes that more firms will see the Maldives as “an exciting place to do business and pioneer new technologies in the field of water, waste and energy.”

He said safe drinking water was in short supply in the Maldives, and was becoming insufficient to meet people’s needs. He noted “only eighteen islands in the country have proper sewerage systems and only four islands have water networks.”

President Nasheed said the price of electricity was very high, making water desalination plants an expensive measure to get potable water. He said renewable energy sources are needed for providing safe drinking water at affordable prices.

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Gaafaru Wind Farm: the future of Male’s power?

The Gaafaru wind farm project to power the Male’ region will be operational by August 2013, the government has promised, although the cost has already soared to US$370 million from a predicted US$250 million.

The agreement between the State Electricity Company Limited (STELCO) and Falcon Energy to build and run a 75mW wind farm in Gaafaru, North Malé Atoll, should produce enough clean energy for Malé, Hulhulé and a number of resorts to “switch off their existing diesel power generators” according to the President’s Office.

The wind farm will be required to produce an uninterrupted minimum of 45mW. On windy days, “excess electricity…will be used to run a water desalination plant.” On calm days, there will be a gas turbine which can produce up to 50mW of back-up power.

GE Energy is the most likely candidate to supply the wind turbines, and will also be supplying a desalination plant and the 50 mW back-up generator powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The project’s local lead, Omar Manik, told Minivan News the Gaafaru wind farm is expected to completely replace the electricity currently produced and provided by STELCO, and should save the government about US$50 million a year.

Wind speed concerns

According to an American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) 2005 report, the minimum average wind speed needed to run a utility-scale wind power plants is 6 metres per second (21.6 km/h).

The AWEA report states that because “power available in the wind is proportional to the cube of its speed… doubling the wind speed increases the available power by a factor of eight.”

For example, a turbine operating at a site with an average of 20 km/h should produce 33 percent more electricity than a site operating at 19 km/h, because the cube of 20 is larger than the cube of 19.

This means that a difference of just 1 km/h in wind speed could significantly bring down productivity in the wind farm.

According to figures published in a 2003 report by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), North Malé Atoll has an annual average wind speed of 4.9 m/s (17.7 km/h), with the maximum average wind speed recorded of 8 m/s (28.8 km/h).

The Gaafaru wind farm is meanwhile expected to run on a minimum wind speed of 5.7 m/s.

Manik explained that wind farm engineers relied on [a minimum wind speed of] 15 m/s for a utility farm ten years ago, but due to efficiency gains “today it’s 3.5 m/s.”

Most of the data used for the Gaafaru project was collected by Manik, with help from the Department of Meteorology, at both 40 and 80 meters above ground.

Manik noted that the important thing when gathering wind speed data is “how high it is and how much wind there is. The higher you go, the better it is.”

The masts for the wind turbines at Gaafaru will be 80 metres high, with the propellers reaching a diameter of 50 metres. Manik explained “at 80 metres there will be very good wind.”

The wind farm

Manik said a preliminary feasibility study on wind speeds has been conducted and the project is moving forward as planned.

The project is being funded and run by UK-based Falcon Energy Group, but is represents a consortium of four companies; two from the UK, including Falcon Energy, one from Saudi Arabia and one from Holland. Currently, they are surveying wind power and negotiating prices for freight, turbines and gas supply.

The wind farm will use STELCO’s power grid, but will replace its powerplant in Male’.

“The powerhouse in Malé is limited, they have land problems, fuel price problems. We need renewable energy,” Manik explained.

The wind farm should produce from 60-70mW of energy, “which is still higher than what is required by the government,” Manik said. “STELCO will still be the provider. We are selling to them and they are providing.”

The wind farm is expected to run at 85 percent productivity, and any excess energy will be automatically sent to run the desalination plant.

Wind turbines

The project’s team is currently analysing how many turbines will be needed to produce the required 45mW of electricity. Manik noted that two 25mW turbines will be more costly than one 50mW turbine.

He said they are looking at turbines that use no oil at all, because “the most important thing for us is not the energy. It’s the coral reef,” and the turbines must therefore be 100 percent environmentally friendly.

They are also studying the pH and moisture levels in the water, Manik said, to prevent corrosion in the turbines. Anti-corrosive zinc tablets will be placed in the mast and the turbines to keep them from rusting.

The turbines will be shipped from Lisbon, Portugal, but it is proving difficult and expensive to ship them to Malé.

Back-up generator and desalination plant

The back-up generator and water desalination plant will be located in Hulhumalé and will be provided by GE. The back-up generator, a gas-powered turbine, will have a production capability of 50mW and should be installed in about eight months.

Energy produced by the back-up is expected to replace STELCO’s electricity by late next year. “The back-up generator will be the first thing to be installed,” Manik said, adding that the most important thing was relieving STELCO from having to purchase more generators next year.

He said they are currently negotiating the gas contract for the back-up with one company in Sri Lanka and one in India. First, they need to know how many gas tanks will be needed and what sizes they will need to be. Building the gas tanks, Manik said, will take about a year.

Because excess wind energy “cannot be bottled or stored,” it must be used. If it is not used, Manik explained, it will lower productivity, so any extra energy will go into powering the desalination plant.

The back-up will most likely run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) since it is the “the best option to get where we want to be: carbon neutral,” Manik said, but noted that petroleum gas (regular cooking gas) has a larger heating capacity and does not pollute the air much more than LNG.

Manik said the water produced in the desalination plant would most likely be sold to Hulhumalé, although the government has previously said it would use it for bottled water.

STELCO and power grids

The clean energy produced by the wind farm will be distributed through STELCO’s existing power grids in Malé, and distributed through new submarine cables. Manik noted the 60 km of submarine cables are very expensive to buy and lay out, and will have to be replaced in about 50 years.

He said the biggest issue with the grids is ensuring the current grids in Malé can handle the amount of energy that will be produced by the wind farm.

“If there are 75mW of power coming into this grid, this grid should handle that,” Manik said. He added that they still need to figure out whether the electricity will be coming in through STELCO’s main power generator or into the four individual grids set out in Malé.

Economics and timelines

Falcon Energy group is investing most of the US$370 million needed to fund this project. Manik noted a lot of that money will be loaned by international banks to Falcon Energy.

“International banks are very keen to invest in the Maldives,” he said, “but they need eighteen months of wind surveys. They are becoming partners, they don’t want to lose their money.”

Manik says although both Falcon Energy and the banks know there is “good wind,” they will only invest once they can see wind data collected over eighteen months, which would ensure the data is varied and accurate.

He said while the remaining wind surveys and the installation of the back-up generator are being conducted, once they have six months of data “to give us full confidence, then we will start planting the foundations for the wind turbines.”

“By the time the eighteen months are up, the turbines should be completed,” he added.

Manik said that while “the government doesn’t come up with any money, when you go into a big project like this, even the receiver has to do something, some work.”

The work he is referring to is the possibility that the government might have to “rearrange” how the clean energy will be brought into the city.

“They may have to lay some cables. Maybe. Minimum investment from the government.”

He said it would help if the project could “tap into” some of the funds recently donated to the country, both in the Donor Conference and the Climate Change Trust Fund, but said that is something they are not really thinking about.

“We have to use what is available now. And we also need to show that we are capable people.”

Manik said the cost of the project has risen from the original figure of US$250 million to US$370 million “because there is no infrastructure here, and it has to be built by us.”

The MoU states that Falcon Energy must provide an uninterrupted power supply to STELCO for twenty years “starting from a given date.”

“It has to always be transparent,” Manik said, “you are working with the government, it has to be clear.”

The wind turbines should be working by June 2013 and the back-up generator should be operational by October 2011.

Correction: the wind mast to carry out further tests is being sent from Portugal, not the turbines.

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