Rooftop solar in Maldives : World Bank guarantee and SREP facilitate private investment in clean and affordable energy

Abstract

This guidance note talks about Rooftop solar in Maldives. The Maldives Ministry of Environment and Energy, with support from the World Bank and from the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP), a funding window of the Climate Investment Fund,has designed a program centered on solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftop installations to take advantage of the Maldive's high insolation while also coping with the scarcity of land. Expensive diesel-fired generators operated by two state-owned utilities keep the lights on in Maldives, an archipelago of 200 inhabited islands spread over 900 kilometers of the Indian Ocean. But with the advent of affordable solar technology, the islands’ abundant sunshine can be harnessed for clean generation through private rooftop solar systems. With World Bank support, an innovative guarantee structure has been designed to attract private developers. The Asia Sustainable and Alternative Energy Program at the World Bank supported the development of the ASPIRE concept. ASPIRE’s goal is to scale up solar PV generation from the present level of 1.5 megawatts (MW) to between 20 and 40 MW over the next five years by creating a bankable project structure attractive to the private sector. To make the contracts bankable, the government, its advisors, and the World Bank worked to ensure a fair and attractive allocation of risk. Finally, part of the SREP grant will be used to buy down the tariff in remote islands, where more extensive PV penetration will likely require additional storage capacity.