| Abstract: | 1 SUMMARY
Background
This report is prepared within Phase 1 of the project Renewable Energy Resource Mapping for the Republic of the Maldives. This part of the project focuses on solar resource mapping and measurement services as part of a technical assistance in the renewable energy development implemented by the World Bank in Maldives. It is being undertaken in close coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE) of Maldives, the World Bank’s primary country counterpart for this project.
This project is funded by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Program (ASTAE), both administered by the World Bank and supported by bilateral donors.
Objective
Important part of the project is to deliver high quality solar resource measured data that are to be used for validation of solar resource and meteorological models. Central in this effort is a focus on reducing uncertainty of the models and thus reducing financial and technical risk during implementation of solar energy technologies in Maldives. Objectives of the project are as follows:
• To improve the quality of available information on RE resources in the Maldives by developing resource maps for priority renewables.
• These resource maps will
o Provide a detailed assessment and planning framework for RE resources in Maldives, o Increase the awareness and knowledge of the government and other energy sector players on
renewable energy potential o Encourage new public and private sector investments in RE projects.
This report identifies a long and short lists of potential solar measuring sites in Maldives and proposes set of instruments to be deployed and operated at the agreed meteorological sites. This report also ranks the sites, according to our findings, to contribute to the information-based decision-making on the final site selection.
Data and methods
Selection of candidate sites is the outcome of the methodology, which is based on the following steps:
• Identification of representative climate zones in Maldives to understand geographical differences
• Identification of areas not suitable for deployment of solar measuring stations
• Description of localisation criteria for identification of preferred sites
• Compilation of a long list of sites based on localisation criteria. Categorization of each site into Tier 1 and 2 category, description of instruments and equipment to be deployed for each category
• Preliminary proposal of short-listed sites. The long list and preliminary short-list will serve to decision makers for negotiation and taking final decision about the set-up of the solar measuring network.
The report is accompanied by analytical maps and criteria-supported arguments resulting in synthetic indicators and identification of long list and preliminary proposal for a short-list of candidate sites.
Geographical differences of the country are discussed in Chapter 2.
Quality and reliability of measuring campaign is one of the most important criteria taken into account. Chapter 3 describes the sites identified on the long list.
From the local perspective, there are several localisation criteria for identification of the most suitable sites, such as accessibility, availability of personnel for maintenance and cleaning, security, sustainability of running the measurement campaign in a long term, acceptance/interest of the present land owner, and other economical and logistical criteria.
In the report we rank long list of sites according to the above-mentioned criteria. Ranking from 1 to 5 (1 = not suitable and 5 = excellent) was attributed to each site, based on its suitability to host the station. This ranking
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World Bank, Global ESMAP Initiative, Renewable Energy Resource Mapping: Solar − Maldives (Project ID: P146018) Site Selection Report
ignored proximity to adjacent sites, i.e. two sites close to each other could both get a 5. Next, the sites were selected based on their geographic distribution and ranking. Based on the site ranking, we propose four out of long-listed sites as good candidates for deployment of solar measuring stations.
At this point we should underline, that correct measurement routine during two years campaign is as important as selection of suitable location based on regional and local criteria. As the project objective is to provide high accuracy solar resource data and to attract the investors in solar energy, we consider as appropriate to locate at least one measurement station close to Malé and to highest electrical demand.
These aspects of project deployment and implications for Phase 2 are discussed in Chapter 4.
Results
Based on the selection procedure we have identified a long list of 10 potential sites that are suitable for installation of Tier 1 and Tier 2 solar resource measuring instruments. In the report we describe 4 of them in a more detail. At this subset of sites managed by Maldives Meteorological Service (MMS), there is located a meteorological station with some instrumentation and personnel. The long-listed sites represent fully the climate of Maldives. We also propose a short list of preselected sites to facilitate the final decisions.
To ensure viability of the project, regular maintenance and cleaning is inevitable precondition to achieve reliable validation data sets. From this perspective, hosts who are interested to acquire measurements for their professional purposes (during and after measurement campaign) create the priority group of potential hosts. |
