Energy Transition - Solar: The High-Cost Gamble of CEB for Large Clients
The Central Electricity Board (CEB) is launching a renewable energy program with battery storage aimed at shopping centers, banks, and hotels. Amid technical opportunities and economic constraints, the sector is proceeding with caution.
With its new Renewable Energy Scheme (RE Scheme), the CEB targets large commercial clients to encourage the adoption of photovoltaic solar energy and to smooth out electric consumption. This initiative, which incorporates battery energy storage systems (BESS) and time-of-use pricing, addresses the growing constraints on the network. However, it also highlights the challenges of the energy transition, balancing declared intentions with economic realities.
The scheme focuses on commercial clients under tariff codes 225 and 225A: shopping centers, banks, and hotels. The goal is to promote solar integration while encouraging these major consumers to adjust their habits through differentiated pricing. Electricity costs more during peak demand periods and less during off-peak hours.
In the hotel sector, the primary concern, reactions are cautious. Ashish Shibloll, legal and administrative director of Marriott Group – which operates Le Méridien, The Westin, and The St. Regis in Mauritius – is not closing the door on the initiative. "CEB has presented us with several options, including the installation of storage batteries or photovoltaic panels," he explains. The group plans to gather its partners to assess the options.
However, enthusiasm remains measured. "We must stay realistic: solar energy represents a very costly investment for structures like ours, especially since the configuration of our roofs often makes implementation difficult," Ashish Shibloll tempers.
The hotel industry faces an additional constraint: its consumption peaks, concentrated in the evening, leave little room for maneuver. "At those times, it is virtually impossible to shift energy consumption without affecting the quality of service provided to clients."
The Marriott representative remains open to the transition, provided that the authorities support the movement. "We hope that the upcoming Budget will propose more incentivizing measures to help the hotel sector make this leap," he indicates.
This pragmatic hotelier perspective contrasts with the analysis of Sunil Dowarkasing, an energy expert who has observed the sector for years. For him, the new program illustrates a recurring issue in Mauritius: the gap between announcement and execution. "Ambitions are regularly displayed, but translating them into coherent and truly binding policies encounters deeply rooted bureaucratic inertia," he analyzes.
The expert points to administrative burdens, lengthy authorization processes, and restrictive network access rules. According to him, these obstacles have discouraged decentralized initiatives. "Rooftop solar and community projects have been particularly penalized, even though they represent essential leverage," he laments.
While Ashish Shibloll mainly discusses costs, Sunil Dowarkasing broadens the critique. "By limiting itself to large commercial clients, the program de facto excludes households, SMEs, and local communities. A sustainable energy transition cannot be reserved for an economic elite; it must be inclusive," he insists.
The requirement to install a battery storage system crystallizes disagreements. For the CEB, it is about ensuring network stability and managing consumption peaks. For operators, it is a heavy investment that adds to solar costs.
Sunil Dowarkasing does not dispute the technical usefulness of the system. "The BESS is useful for network stability, but making it a requirement without a clear financial support mechanism amounts to prioritizing constraint over incentive," he estimates. This viewpoint aligns with the concerns expressed by the hotel sector regarding the financial burden of the transition.
The expert also questions the quantitative ambition. "The target of 70 MW of photovoltaic solar, with 11.5 MW of storage, remains modest in light of increasing energy needs and international decarbonization commitments," he observes. The program does not challenge, he emphasizes, the predominant role of independent producers operating on fossil fuels.
Thus, although the "Time-of-Use" and the new "RE Scheme" mark a technical evolution of the electrical network, for Sunil Dowarkasing, the program favors "a logic of managing consumption peaks and optimizing the existing network rather than a profound transformation. There is neither a clear timeline for phasing out fossil fuels, nor reform of independent producers' contracts, nor a strong national vision."
"I am not satisfied with the CEB's pace of work." This was the message delivered yesterday, Wednesday, January 28, by Patrick Assirvaden. The Minister of Energy spoke during an Education & Job Fair held at the Octave Wiehé auditorium in Réduit. Reflecting on the projects undertaken by his ministry to ensure the country’s energy security, he indicated that he expects the CEB to accelerate its actions and strengthen its support for these initiatives. A position the minister describes as a genuine "wake-up call" directed at the CEB.