Another Seychelles’ island switches to solar energy source

Seychelles, as a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP), has once again shown its dedication to sustainability and green tourism growth.

After the Aldabra Atoll and Aride Island, Cousin has become the third island of the Seychelles archipelago to switch off the diesel generators and convert entirely to solar power. Seen as an island sanctuary dedicated to birds, Cousin managed by the Nature Seychelles, one of the country’s leading conservation NGOs.

At hand to see the commissioning of the solar installation and the decommissioning of the generators was the Seychelles Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Didier Dogley, who was shown around the location of the solar panels, batteries and inverter by Nature Seychelles’ CEO Dr. Nirmal Shah.

The cost of the installation was given at around US$25,000 and the yearly savings in diesel for the generators will provide added cash to use in conservation programs rather than for buying fuel. Nature Seychelles has eight staff permanently based on Cousin, engaged in managing the island, collecting data and carrying out scientific studies.

The Seychelles government has been promoting the use of renewable energy and in his recent address on Independence and National Day President Michel announced a range of further measures to promote the use of such energy sources. He launched a subsidy scheme for solar panels for homes, including solar water heaters, and duty for electric vehicles will be abolished on July 15, while hybrid vehicles will see their import duty reduced to just five percent. More than half of the archipelago’s land territory has been dedicated to conservation and large tracts of the Indian Ocean under the control of the Seychelles are also intended to be set aside as marine conservation areas.