Coming on the heels of a financial incentive scheme launched earlier in the year to make renewable energy technology more attractive for households in Seychelles, a new rebate scheme has been launched to make the purchasing of photovoltaic (PV) panels more appealing and affordable for the commercial sector.
Launched last week by the Minister of Finance, Trade & Investment, Pierre Laporte, the project is a collaboration between the Government of Seychelles, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
Last year, the Ministry of Finance working in concert with commercial banks and the Seychelles Energy Commission launched the Seychelles Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programme (SEEREP) in order to provide financing with interest rates as low as 5 percent for purchasers of renewable energy products. With this new development, any unused electricity generated by PV units during the day can now be sold back into the national grid to the Public Utility Company (PUC), thus affording residents and businesses the opportunity to earn additional income from their investments.
Concerns over the rising cost of electricity in the African Island were raised, and the Minister urged the commercial sector to help counter the effects of high energy prices by increasingly adopting renewable energy technologies. He added that subsidies would be implemented, where necessary, to move the economy forward.
The scheme, after its launch last year, raised lots of hopes, but it soon became apparent that the capital expenditure was way too high for a lot of people. According to Dominic Rassool, the PV rebate Project Manager, the coordination unit decided to reduce payback on the PV units to less than five years in order to improve the cost factor.
Going forward, the archipelago seeks to diversify its energy base from the current high dependency on fossil fuels which power large generators around the main inhabited islands. Importing fuel to the island state constitutes high costs and energy prices are expected to rise once government subsidies are completely removed. This explains the current resolute focus on renewable energy solutions.
The government believes it can generate about 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020, this would be an 18 percent increase from the current 2 percent generated from wind farms. The key impediment to further investments in renewable energy has been the initial high upfront investment.
This initiative, coupled with the removal of all taxes from the importation of photovoltaic equipment is the government’s way of stimulating further adoption. The necessary tweaks in legal and legislative frameworks have to be expedited, however, in order to make it easier for households and businesses to generate their own electricity.
By Emmanuel Iruobe
