Mid Term Evaluation of the Removal of Barriers to Solar PV Power Generation project

Mid Term Evaluation of the Removal of Barriers to Solar PV Power Generation project

Completedon 14 May, 2015
Evaluation Plan
Planned End Date
Jun 2015
Evaluation Type
Project
Management Response
Yes
Evaluation Budget
$12,000
Summary
The achievements of the project up to the time of MTR are largely attributable to the proactive actions by CEB to engage with the private sector towards the creation of grid-connected solar PV facilities and the consulting assignment to Mercados for MSDG. The project has been instrumental in the establishment of grid-connected solar PV power generation facilities in Mauritius. The project has been able to create capacity of about 10 MW, which is the target capacity by 2025 for solar PV as per the strategy of the Government. This became possible as the project supported the difference in tariff between the fossil fuel power plants and the cost of procurement of power from solar PV plants. Although the cost of power generation using solar PV technology has come down (due to a general trend of reduction in the capital cost of solar PV and fiscal measures by the Government, including a reduction in VAT, no land-use conversion charges etc.), there is still a difference in the cost of generation using solar PV technology and other fossil fuel-based technologies., In view of this gap, any further capacity addition will still require the feed-in tariff support or other matching fiscal incentives. The project was intended to remove a number of legal, regulatory and market barriers which hamper realisation of the potential of solar PV energy for on-grid electricity generation. The project has partially succeeded in doing so. Some technology (availability of solar resource data), financial (need for support by fiscal incentives due to viability gap) and regulatory barriers (long time required to receive clearances) still remain. Some of the remaining barriers will be addressed during the remaining implementation period. However, in order to achieve the planned objectives, outputs and outcomes of the project, an extension of time will be required. We conclude that the project has been instrumental in lowering many of the barriers towards grid-connected solar PV in Mauritius; however, the barriers have not been wholly removed.
  • Evaluation Information
Evaluation Title
Mid Term Evaluation of the Removal of Barriers to Solar PV Power Generation project
Atlas Project Number
00072174
Plan Period
Status
Completed
Type
Project
Management Response
Yes
Plan Date
1 Jun, 2015
Quality Assessment
No
Completion Date
14 May, 2015
Joint Programme
No
Joint Evaluation
No
Budget
$12,000
GEF Evaluation
Yes
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Expenditure
$0
Stakeholders
Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities
Source of Funding
GEF
Countries
Mauritius
Comments
Yes
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