📋 Tender Overview
Scope : To Construct 5.8 MWp Floating Solar Power Plant in Providence Lagoon, Seychelles
Independent Power Producer (IPP) Qair has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 5.8 MWp floating solar power plant in Providence Lagoon, Seychelles. The electricity produced by the plant will be fed into the Seychelles national grid.
More than two years after being selected by the Seychelles authorities, the French independent power producer (IPP) Qair is finally making progress in the development of the Providence solar project. The company has just signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), the company that provides water, sanitation and electricity services in Seychelles.
The project involves the construction of a 5.8 MWp floating solar power plant in Providence Lagoon, near Mahé, the largest island in the Seychelles archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. The PPA was recently signed on the Energy Observer, a zero-emission, energy self-sufficient ship, serving as a laboratory for the ecological transition and promoting renewable energy, in which Qair is a partner
The PPA has a term of 25 years. More details were not given on the contract, including the price per kWh of electricity. But when the contract was awarded in 2020, the PUC planned to negotiate the price per kWh at 9.5 cents. Several other questions remain, since Qair (Quadran at the time) won the contract as part of a consortium that also included UAE energy company Masdar and Vetiver Tech.
However, the Providence solar project is supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) under its African Legal Support Facility (ALSF). In its development phase, the project has also received support from the Clinton Foundation, Trinity International and Multiconsult Norge, one of the leading engineering and design firms in Norway and Scandinavia. The Providence floating solar power plant is expected to enter the construction phase in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The local subsidiary of the French company Quadran has been selected by the Seychelles Energy Commission to build a floating solar power plant in the lagoon of Providence on the main island of Mahe. According to the public body, which plays the role of mediator in the energy sector in the Seychelles Archipelago, the various concession agreements will be signed in the first quarter of 2020.
