Mauritius: the sooty side of the sustainable island

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L'Express (Port Louis)

16 July 2008
Posted to the web 16 July 2008

Nicholas Rainer
Port Louis

The "Mauritius: sustainable island" project aims to drastically reduce the country's dependency on fossil fuels. Where does CT-Power's coal-fired plant fit into this strategy?

Abu Kasenally is a very busy man. Last week he was officially launching a dozen green initiatives as part of the Mauritius: sustainable island project and yesterday he was in Parliament defending government's decision to go ahead with the construction of a 110MW coal-fired power plant, which, as the opposition reminded him several times, is the "dirtiest" fossil fuel around. Contradictory? Not according to the minister of Public utilities who believes that "fossil fuels are here to stay".

Abu Kasenally also announced that a committee of experts consisting of technicians from his ministry and the CEB had been set up in order to study the Energy Policy for the Republic of Mauritius, 2008-2025, which will "be finalized in the months to come".

One of the terms of reference of this influential report, which has been financed jointly by the European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme, consists of developing "a practical and coherent masterplan/action plan for the period 2008-2025 based on economic, financial, social and environmental sustainability".

Controlled by monopolies

The final draft of this report warns that the "status quo" is neither "secure, sustainable nor competitive", namely because of the absence of "strategic oil or coal stocks", the fact that the oil and coal markets are controlled by monopolies and the country's "growing reliance on fossil fuels".

CT Power's coal-fired power station, which will go up in Pointe-aux-Caves, Albion, seems to confirm the latter observation. This perhaps explains why the minister chose to state yesterday that some of the report's recommendations "are clearly not acceptable".

Admittedly, it is wholly unrealistic to expect the country to completely wean itself off its addiction to fossil fuels in the near future. However, it does seem rather odd that the government has decided to allow the construction of a power station that will rely uniquely on coal. Currently, the only Independent Power Producer (IPP) to run solely on coal is the Centrale Thermique du Sud.

The four other IPPs, namely Savannah, Belle Vue, Médine and FUEL, all use cogeneration (the use of coal and bagasse), a far more efficient and environmentally-friendly way of producing electricity. Savannah and Belle Vue have been particularly adept at making the most of cogeneration.

According to Dr Khalil Elahee of the University of Mauritius (UoM), power plants that employ cogeneration could further increase their productivity by using cane trash and residue, a process which would only require light modifications.

Furthermore, the technology required to convert biomass into biogas should become available in the next 20 years. This technique, which is known as gasification, affords for a highly efficient electricity production while greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In response to the opposition's concerns about the environmental impact of a coal-fired power station, Abu Kasenally contended that CT Power's plant will use pulverized coal, as well as an electronic precipitator that reduces particles emissions.

Last December, the Professor James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and leading climate change scientist appealed strongly in favour of the development of renewable energies. He also remarked that, "There is no clean coal. The technology is still decades away".

Dr Khalil Elahee also has his reservations about the merits of pulverized coal. He concedes that it is "slightly more efficient" than conventional coal but goes on to add that it can cause pollution-related problems. An international environmental expert will be entrusted with the task of scrutinizing CT Power's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.

Most complex and challenging

To add to the resentment caused by its lack of green credentials, CT Power's proposal for its project came in the form an "unsolicited bid", meaning that it was not subject to a tender exercise. Abu Kasenally averred that this practice, which contravenes the concept of good governance, would no longer be accepted.

The minister was also interrogated on the creation of a subsidiary of the CEB, whose responsibility it will be to buy the coal needed by the power station. He parried the question by saying that the "price of electricity is indexed to the price of coal". If the major premise of this syllogism is that the price of coal has significantly increased in recent times, its minor premise is that consumers will have to foot the bill.

Making Mauritius sustainable will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most complex and challenging missions the country has ever taken on. The government has however pledged to do everything in its power to make it happen.

This makes its decision to allow CT Power to go ahead with its coal-fired plant all the more confounding.

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