The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $110-million loan to strengthen the electricity grid and build new gas-fired substations.
Mauritius will soon be able to replace electricity generation based on thermal energy using imported fuels. The African Development Bank approved on Wednesday in Abidjan a loan of 110 million dollars to enable it to implement the Construction of Gas-fired Substations with Isolated Transformers Project.
The project aims to improve the stability of the Mauritian electricity network, to make it more operational while facilitating its expansion and its connection to renewable energy production, said the statement seen by APA.
The expected long-term impact is to increase the resilience of the network to climate change and increase the number of injection points for renewable energy production facilities, the note said.
The memo states that the project will rehabilitate six existing substations. Four new 66/22-kilovolt metal-clad substations will also be built to meet the load demand of major projects and serve as additional interconnection points for large-scale renewable energy generation.
The project target area includes the ten locations of substation sites identified for rehabilitation. Most of the selected sites are related to the growing demand for electricity due to the industrial development of the country.
The country’s households, businesses and industries will benefit from increased supply, reliability and better quality of electricity supply, the document notes.
“The rehabilitation of existing public infrastructure and the construction of new infrastructure are considered a strategic focus by the Mauritian authorities to boost the economy,” the release said, quoting Tiana Manasse-Ratsimandresy, AfDB Project Manager
ARD/ac/fss/as/APA