Seychelles, International Solar Alliance sign grant agreement for solar cooling storage project |15 November 2022
The signing of the agreement
The Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Flavien Joubert, has signed a grant agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) for a demonstration solar cooling storage project.
The signing ceremony took place during the Seychelles-ISA hybrid side-event entitled ‘Opportunities in Seychelles for scaling solar projects’ which was held on Friday last week in the ISA Pavilion at the COP27 taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
The project will involve the installation of a solar-powered cold storage of a capacity 5 MT on the island of La Digue.
The state-of-the-art technology will provide around 5 metric tonnes of cold storage capacity which will increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, reduce food wastage and increase income levels.
The project is part of the ministry’s plan to address the many challenges facing the agriculture sector in Seychelles.
Additionally, it will provide training and job opportunities for the inhabitants.
Opening the event, Minister Joubert reminded the audience of the threats our island is facing and why we have to collectively take action.
He highlighted the various initiatives Seychelles is undertaking in line with the country’s commitment to fighting climate change.
He placed emphasis on the need to work closely with partners like ISA in order to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.
In concluding, Minister Joubert thanked the director general of ISA, Dr Ajay Mathur, and ISA for supporting Seychelles and their contributions to the development of solar PV globally.
The event also included a presentation by the principal secretary for energy and climate change, Tony Imaduwa, who detailed the current situation of the country and its plans to develop renewable energy.
This was followed by another presentation by the principal secretary for agriculture Keven Nancy who summarised the efforts the country is making to strengthen the agriculture sector including the national plan to improve the local contribution to the country's food security status and efforts underway to ensure the agricultural sector generates 50% of what the locals consume in order to reduce the problems related to food security.
The event concluded with a panel discussion comprising representatives from the Seychelles Energy Commission, the Public Utilities Corporation and the department of agriculture and they answered questions and discussed the opportunities and challenges in scaling solar energy in Seychelles.
About ISA:
ISA is an inter-governmental organisation with 110 signatory countries and it has been helping its member countries to scale up solar and make it a preferred source of energy. The launch of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was announced by Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India and François Hollande, former President of France on November 30, 2015 at the 21st session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-21) in Paris, France.
Former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon attended the launch, alongside the heads of about 120 nations who affirmed their participation in the Alliance to dedicate efforts to promote solar energy. Seychelles, as an active member of ISA, has been participating in various of its programmes.
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