ADB ramps up support for renewable energy in Maldives
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $7.74 million concessional loan and a $2.73 million project grant to scale up an ongoing renewable energy project in Maldives.
The project - called Preparing Outer Islands for Sustainable Energy Development (POISED) - aims to transform the existing diesel-based grids into renewable-energy-based hybrid systems covering 160 outer islands in Maldives.
The project will expand renewable-based hybrid systems, distribution grid upgrades, energy management systems, and supervisory control and data acquisition systems in additional 12 outer islands. It will also install solar-photovoltaic-based ice-making machines in four outer islands to support fisheries, develop and introduce a climate- and disaster-resilient electricity distribution system in one outer island, and pilot test a solar-photovoltaic-battery-operated ferry for transportation.
The ongoing POISED project has replaced inefficient diesel-based power generation grids and installed more than 9.5MW of solar photovoltaic capacity, 5.6MW-hours of battery storage, 11.6MW of energy efficient diesel generators, and its associated investments in 70 outer islands.
