On his way back from UNESCO World Heritage site of Aldabra, President Ramkalawan and his delegation stopped on Astove and Farquhar for the official launch of the solar farms on these two islands.

The project is an initiative of Islands Development Company (IDC) as a source of alternative energy to cut costs and reduce the amount of fuel used to power electricity generators on the islands. The project will also help to protect the environment from pollution.

Work on the two sets of solar farms commenced in October last year and completed in April.

The photovoltaic power station on Astove comprises 342 glass solar panels, capable of producing 150 KW of electricity, which will make up for 93% of the island’s consumption of electricity.

The one on Farquhar has 510 panels which gives an output of 250 KW of electricity. 94% of the island’s electricity needs will be produced by solar energy.

With the setting up on solar farms on another two islands, IDC will make further savings on fuel consumption and transportation of fuel to the islands. The money saved will go towards further infrastructure development on the islands.

The presidential delegation also stopped on Desroches to see ongoing work on the solar farm on that island.  

The first solar setup on the outer islands on Alphonse was inaugurated in November 2018.

A much bigger solar farm under construction on Desroches will come online within the coming few months with a capacity of 2.5MW    

To conclude their three-day visit to the outer islands, the Presidential delegation also made an overnight stop on Desroches. The delegates received a tour of the island where they had an opportunity to view the site of the Solar Farm under construction, visited the Island Conservation Seychelles  (ICS) Tortoise Sanctuary, the IDC Village, Farm, IDC Guest Houses and part of the North Point Nature Trail.

Present for the two inauguration ceremonies and tour of Desroches island was the First Lady, Mrs Linda Ramkalawan, the Vice-President, Mr Ahmed Afif, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Mr Sylvestre Radegonde, the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Mr Flavien Joubert, the Minister for Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Mr Naadir Hassan, the Chairperson of the Board of IDC, Mr Patrick Berlouis, the CEO of IDC Mr Glenny Savy, the Deputy CEO of IDC Mr Christian Lionnet, Member of the IDC Board Mr Denis Matatiken and members of the Diplomatic Corps.