On 22 December 2021, This Ministry and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a transaction advisory services (TAS) agreement for the development, structuring and international tendering of a solar photovoltaic (PV) PPP project in 20 to 25 outer islands of the country with a combined capacity of 20 to 30 MW. The project installations will be a combination of land, rooftops and nearshore lagoons with 1-2 MW of solar PV in each of the identified outer islands of the country.

The PPP project will complement ADB’s ongoing sovereign financing interventions for grid and battery storage related infrastructure and government’s effort in achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. The power sector is heavily dependent on liquid fuels (mainly diesel) which have to be imported and reduction in diesel generation is a key priority of the Government due to its cost and environmental implications.

ADB’s TAS support for the project will help to catalyse private sector investment in the solar PV sector in order to transform existing diesel-based power generation systems into hybrid renewable energy systems in the inhabited islands of the country. The project is expected to substantially reduce carbon emissions, decreasing the country’s diesel import bill and lowering the overall energy tariff.