The African Development Bank has approved a loan of US$117mn to redevelop the Saint Louis Power Plant in Mauritius
The Mauritius Central Electricity Board (CEB) was given the loan amount to redevelop the 60MW Saint Louis Power Plant. The cost of redevelopment is US$129.7mn and is meant to increase the power generating capacity of the CEB, according to AfDB.
Located five km south of Port Louis, the project would have four heavy fuel oil (HFO) driven 15MW generators, a power station building, two 1,000 cu metre tanks for the storage of HFO and one 132 kV sub-station to connect the power plant to CEB’s main electricity grid, added AfDB.
Alex Rugamba, director of the AfDB’s energy, environment and climate change department, said, "The electricity produced by the project will be distributed to all corners of the main island of Mauritius – where 97 per cent of the population resides."
Reports stated that Mauritius is going to require more power by the end of 2015, and the CEB would have to generate more electricity. The main sectors of the Mauritian economy – tourism, textiles and financial services – are dependent on a steady supply of electricity and the 60MW generated by the plant would add to the existing power grid.
