The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology, Maldives, has invited bids from engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contractors to install battery energy storage systems (BESS) of 40 MW/40 MWh capacity on select islands.

Under Lot-I, bids have been invited to supply, install, and commission 24 MW/24 MWh BESS on locations at S. Hithadhoo, S. Hulhudhoo-Meedhoo, Gn. Fuvahmulah, Thinadhoo, Kulhudhuffushi, Eydhafushi, and Lh. Hinnavaru islands.

Under Lot-II, bids have been invited to supply, install, and commission 16 MW/16 MWh BESS on locations at L. Atoll, Lh. Naifaru, Dh. Kudahuvadhoo, GA. Villingili, and Sh. Funadhoo islands.

Interested bidders can register for the pre-qualification process by August 26, 2021, and the last date to submit the bids is September 2.

The installations covered in this tender will be supported by a $23 million concessional loan to the Government of Maldives, allocated from the Clean Technology Fund.

In December last year, the World Bank approved a $107.4 million project to help the Maldives accelerate its transition to renewable energy. The ‘Accelerating Renewable Energy Integration and Sustainable Energy’ (ARISE) project builds on the efforts of the existing World Bank-funded program ‘Accelerating Sustainable Private Investments in Renewable Energy’ (ASPIRE) initiative to bring in private investments for increasing renewable energy capacity in the Maldives.

The ARISE project includes bringing in 36 MW of new solar installations with an estimated cumulative capacity of 50 MWh of BESS and grid infrastructure upgrades.

The BESS installations will support high renewable energy penetration for island grids and ensure efficient operation of the existing diesel generators needed in the solar-diesel hybrid generation mix.

The BESS projects will be developed on an EPC basis on 11 islands.

The island nation envisions carbon neutrality by 2030 and an immediate target for 2023 to increase the renewable share by 20% compared to the 2018 levels.

The installed solar capacity of the country reached 21.52 MW in 2019 from 1.64 MW in 2009. Currently, the energy from renewables accounts for only 4% of the national energy mix, and therefore significant growth is required to meet the ambitious renewable energy goals of Maldives.

Earlier, the Asian Development Bank had announced that it had approved a concessional loan worth $7.74 million and a project grant worth $2.73 million to advance the existing ‘Preparing Outer Islands for Sustainable Energy Development’ project in the Maldives.