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general, fuel imports represent up to 20% of the annual import costs of SIDS,
and between 5% and 20% of their GDP (Walker-Leigh, 2012). The vulnerability
of economies of SIDS to fossil fuel price increases was clearly illustrated in
Mauritius when the 2008 oil crisis increased the costs by 28% to reach USD 921.2
million when compared with USD 721.3 million in the previous year (MOENDU,
2010). The electricity utilities in SIDS are typically state-owned and have overall
control over the distribution and transmission of electrical power. In addition,
SIDS have high exposure to multiple and extreme vagaries of climate change,
adding to the imperative of moving toward a sustainable future. These factors
indicate that small islands constitute excellent test beds for decarbonization of the
energy system. A related contemporary issue confronting power system planners
worldwide is the merging ofthe central grid withon-site or distributedpower. This
new approach to energy generation can help provide power while reducing
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and protecting the environment. Today’s more
“agile” systems (Clark and Bradshaw, 2004) interconnect power systems with
renewable on-site power generation that may not be controlled by the public
utility, as in the case of Mauritius and elsewhere. Agile systems can underpin
the new energy paradigm for SIDS.
We assess the energy situation in Mauritius, a small island state, and present
the main building blocks of a new energy paradigm aiming at achieving a 100%
RE target by the year 2050. The present energy mix is critically analyzed to make
recommendations for a 100% renewable system on the island by 2050. Although
the Long-Term Energy Strategy (LTES) for the period 2009e25 devised by the
Government of Mauritius sets pathways for a sustainable future, it does not
evaluate scenarios that would achieve the objectives set. In addition, it limits the
scope of the RE targets to 35% and the planning horizon up to 2025 and
considers electrical power only. This chapter proposes to extend the analysis
to 2050 by looking beyond electricity only to assess the energy system
comprehensively in terms of alternative resources for primary uses, including
energy-intensive transportation and cooling. A longer planning horizon is
considered here because the new energy paradigm requires new energy
infrastructure investments with lengthy lead times. Moreover, novel energy
technologies can be slow to mature and fully penetrate the market. For these
reasons, most international efforts to curb GHG emissions and to reach ambitious
RE integration goals, such as the 21st Conference of Parties agreement and the EU
decarbonization roadmap, use the year 2050 as their target. Furthermore, as
mentioned in Introduction, many studies have been performed in different
countries that are pledging their efforts toward 100% RE. Most of these studies
have specified2050asa target based onanunderstanding thata fullturnoverofthe
electricity sector by 2050 is need to avoid an increase in the global average

temperature beyond 2 C(Verbruggen and Lauber, 2009).
The rest of the chapter is structured as follows. The section Current Energy
Status of Mauritius provides an account of the present energy mix of Mauritius