Not content with their ambitious achievements in Abu Dhabi, now Masdar is spreading clean energy worldwide.
A small 6 MW wind farm in the Seychelles has broken ground and will start start providing 11 percent of the languorous tropical resort islands’ modest electricity needs, thanks to Abu Dhabi’s Fund for Development (ADFD) and Masdar, the renewable energy company.
Helping lay the foundation stone, at a ceremony in the capital city, Port Victoria, were representatives of the Abu Dhabi government backers at ADFD, and Abu Dhabi-based project manager Masdar – of the Masdar eco-city fame – yes – that Masdar.
The Seychelle islands are not heavy energy users. They are an archipelago of sparsely inhabited islands off the coast of Africa north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
But like many island nations, they currently depend on expensive imports of traditional diesel and heavy fuel oil to run generators for electricity, (see why Masdar just brought solar power to Tonga) leading to an unexpectedly heavy carbon footprint.
The wind farm is the first major renewable-energy project ever built on the Seychelles islands, and is being constructed on the archipelago’s main island, Mahé.
Masdar is the project manager and has awarded the building contract to South Korean company Unison. Once completed, the Seychelles’ state-owned Public Utilities Corporation will take over the ownership, running and maintenance of the wind farm.
This project aligns with Abu Dhabi’s commitment to support sustainable economic projects in developing countries that advance a clean energy future for everyone, that is as much driven by the alignment between low carbon economics and Sharia Law as it is with Masdar’s legendary fascination with clean tech developments that advance a clean power future for all of us.
(Related: Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Institute Files U.S. Patent for Advanced Battery tech)
“This project is a very special one as it will help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of ensuring environmental sustainability by utilising the renewable wind energy to meet the vital demand for electricity,” said Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive of Masdar, noting that the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has been active in the Seychelles for over three decades, but only recently has the focus turned to clean energy development.
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Image from Luxury Travel
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