Mauritius: First solar farm begins operation

The Bambous solar photovoltaic power plant has begun operating in the western Rivière Noire district. With peak output of 15.2MW, it is the first utility-scale solar facility to be built in the country. Germany’s Tauber Solar Energietechnik GmbH and Mauritian firm Sarako, founded in 2013 to develop solar energy in Mauritius and southern Africa, signed an energy supply agreement for the project with the Central Electricity Board (CEB) amid a flurry of renewable energy activity in mid-2013. Germany’s Conecon GmbH was the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, which is owned by Sarako. Tianwei supplied the solar panels, while Switzerland’s ABB provided inverters and transformers.