100% renewable energy system for the island of Mauritius by 2050: A techno-economic study

Abstract

The urgency of climate change and the need to reduce dependence on expensive and polluting fossil fuels have prompted a transition to renewable energy (RE) in many countries. Mauritius, a small island developing state which relies heavily on imported fossil fuels faces such a challenge. This work presents a techno-economic study of a 100 % RE system incorporating the power, transport and manufacturing sectors of Mauritius in 2050. The novelty of this study lies in it being the first 100 % RE system study for Mauritius. Furthermore, its use of mature and commercially available technologies as opposed to more advanced ones renders it realistic from the perspective of a developing country with limited means. The simulations of key scenarios demonstrate that a 100 % RE system for Mauritius is technically feasible within reasonable costs. Solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) would form the backbone of the 100 % RE system due to their complementarity. It was also found that offshore wind is a valuable resource as it has high-capacity factor (46.4 %) but is also highly seasonal. The switch to a 100 % RE system entails an increase in the cost of final energy, +121 % versus cost in 2016 and + 11 % versus cost in 2022 for the PV-BESS scenario. The large difference between those two years is due to the high volatility of the cost of fossil fuels which the 100 % RE system would shield the country from. Finally, electric vehicles through smart charging and vehicle-to-grid can greatly reduce the cost of electricity.