Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology Aminath Shauna has announced the installation of the 10-megawatt floating solar panels in Addu City will be completed by 2023.
The environment ministry believes the main challenge in bringing revolutionary changes in the energy sector is the lack of land to establish energy storage systems in separate islands. The ministry exerted efforts to introduce energy-generating technology in Maldivian water.
Speaking to PSM News, Environment Minister Shauna said the mega project will revolutionise the energy sector of the country. Minister Shauna said the biggest challenge in developing the energy sector is lack of land required in islands to establish solar energy storage systems. New technology is introduced to establish floating solar panels in lagoons and oceans in the island's vicinity to overcome the issue of lack of available land, he stated adding, 10-megawatt floating solar panel system will be established in Addu City by 2023 as part of the first phase, which will be the largest floating solar panel installation in the world.
In addition, a policy has also been formulated to purchase energy on a commercial basis. Necessary changes were brought to the existing regulations in order to cater to the project, according to the environment ministry. The ministry also stated that efforts are underway to amend the regulation specifying the formulation of electricity bills while the regulations on floating solar are near completion.
Moreover, the ministry has revealed plans are also underway to commence a project in collaboration with Fenaka Corporation Limited aiming to purchase energy from solar panels in households.
In addition to the revolutionary floating solar panel project, the first phase of another project to establish an energy storage system in batteries is also being carried out in Addu City. In this regard, the first large-scale or utility-scale, one-megawatt battery energy storage system was established in Addu this year.
The project will be carried out in other islands as well, according to the environment ministry.