10th Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) Minister Cosgrow leads Seychelles’ delegation |13 January 2020

Delegates in a family photo (Photo source: MEECC)

The Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Wallace Cosgrow, led the Seychelles delegation at the 10th Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) held from January 10 - 12, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Minister Cosgrow was accompanied by the principal secretary for energy and climate change Wills Agricole, PS Rebecca Loustau-Lalanne in the blue economy department, chief executive of the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) Philip Morin, chief executive of the Seychelles Energy Commission Tony Imaduwa and Phillianne Albert from the blue economy department.

Over 1,500 delegates from more than 160 governments, the private sector and civil society gathered in Abu Dhabi, UAE for the event.

A high-level meeting on accelerating the energy transformation in small island developing states (Sids) through renewable energy was also held during the 10th session of the Irena Assembly.

The 10th Assembly represents a curtain-raiser to a decade in which the world must achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations and adopt a climate safe energy path.

Renewable energy is recognised as playing a central role in the achievement of several goals including energy access (SDG 7), climate safety (SDG 13), sustainable economic growth (SDG 8) and sustainable cities (SDG 11).

The aim of the assembly was to discuss key issues in the global energy transition and chart the way forward for the Agency against a backdrop of remarkable progress on renewable energy deployment.

In his country statement delivered to the assembly on Saturday January 11, Minister Cosgrow, said: “Seychelles as a Sids does not have much land; our pursuit for sustainable development means that we have to weigh up all the resources available to us in our ocean, and take informed choices on how to develop them for the benefit of our country and our people. If the last 100 years was very much about how we could maximise the use of our land, this century is very much about making the most of our ocean territories. The Indian Ocean is at the crest of this wave, and with our leadership and commitment we can bring about this transformative change that we all believe in, hence the concept of the Blue Economy. Thus, I am pleased to announce that this week Seychelles issued the Notice of Intended Award of Seychelles’ Marine Floating Solar PV project of 4 MW capacity. As the first IPP, this landmark project is on track to be Africa’s first utility-scale marine floating solar PV power plant.”

He continued: “Seychelles have endeavoured to clean our energy sector by accelerating the deployment of renewable energy and adoption of energy efficiency measures. In the last five years, we have installed a combined solar and wind installations of 15MW capacity. This will enable us to achieve our renewable energy penetration target of 5% by 2020. Efforts will continue to strengthen our energy security by implementation of further energy efficiency measures and renewable energy installations to meet our 15% target by 2030. To that end, supporting policies, legislation as well as promotional schemes are being prepared and we count on the continued support of Irena, ADFD and other key partners.

Seychelles through its revised and upscaled NDC will complement its efforts for energy transition including its long-term 100% renewable energy target by introducing green mobility. We will draw up a national e-mobility strategy, regulatory and policy framework for electric vehicles, including business models and finance scheme to incentivise people to switch to electric transportation.”

He concluded: “Seychelles recognises the leading role which Irena is taking to global adoption of renewable energy. We would like to take this opportunity to thank members for their contributions and support for Irena and their respective effort to address this global challenge. We believe that we can accelerate our transformation through partnerships with the support of Irena.”

The delegation will also attend the World Future Energy Summit as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) which begins today.

Press release from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (MEECC)