Published in MTimes , 21 September 2018
As readers are aware our present model of
electricity production relies less on public sector producers and more on
private sector producers of electricity called Independent Power Producers
(IPPs).
The IPPs produce around 60% of the total electricity generated and Central
Electricity Board (CEB) the remaining 40%. Around 79% of the electricity is
generated from non-renewable sources, mainly coal and fuel oil while the remaining
21% is from renewable sources, mostly bagasse.
Both IPPs and CEB power plants are
solicited to meet the daily demand - the CEB mostly for the semi-base and peak
load power supply. At peak times, the system cost is relatively higher as high
running cost engines have to be operated to meet short duration system demand
and much of the CEB capacity is not fully utilised because of cast-iron
contracts with IPPs to give priority to their base load supply.
It all started with the capacity gaps, i.e.
situations in which the currently or planned installed generation capacity is
insufficient for meeting peak demand, that different reports had identified.
These gaps triggered the need to install new capacity to meet the peak demand
in the short and the long terms and ensure that the country has enough
generating capacity to “keep the lights on”. And at the same time the decrease in
the cultivation of sugar cane due to market conditions is bringing down the
amount of bagasse available for production of electricity. That means that the
IPPs will have to rely on coal or highly priced bagasse the low low-efficiency
spreader-stoker technology for their electricity generation thereby impacting
negatively on the country, both financially and environmentally.
In this demanding context, Ivan Le Terrible
tried his coup. He brought in the Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine, a modern
technology that significantly impacts positively on the costs and reliability
of electricity supply in Mauritius and effectively solves our electricity
problems of base and peak loads. The combined-cycle power plant uses both a gas
and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50% more electricity from the
same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas
turbine is routed to the nearby steam turbine, which generates extra power. The
combined-cycle gas turbine would have cost quite a lot and it would have been
costlier than coal in power generation, but in long term it would have perhaps
enabled us to move to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and the development of
renewable sources of energy that would also have been beneficial for us in
terms of sale of carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism.
Conclusion: That’s fine, but
the coup failed. To make the country more independent of the local IPPs would
have hurt the forever distressed cane industry. Electricity generation is one
very profitable way of safeguarding the cane industry against the losses. The
Central Procurement Board’s objection to the project is just an excuse. How
amazing that all political parties reacted in unison against the bold plan of
Ivan Le Terrible!!! Electoral campaign finance, oblige!
