Page 325 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

298 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

Table 15.3 shows that wind is regarded as the most promising RE resource,
with its contribution to the total electricity mix forecasted to rise from 0% in
2010 to 8% in 2025. Besides, wind turbines are prevalent in the island of
Rodrigues, a dependency located at about 600 km from the east coast of
Mauritius. In 2011, wind-generated electricity represented 9% of the total
electricity produced in Rodrigues, representing 2.97 GWh (CEB, 2013). Two
wind farms of capacities 30 MW and 18 MW are presently being implemented
at Plaine Sophie in the southwest and Plaine des Roches in the northeast,
respectively (World Bank, 2015). The CEB claims that it can presently
accommodate wind-generated electricity up to one-third of the night load,
amounting to 60 MW (CEB, 2013). Wind turbines must be specially designed
to withstand the wind gusts experienced during tropical cyclones that are
common during summer, with pull-down mechanisms and resilient mechanical
structures. Onshore wind technology is mature and can be exploited in the
short term, whereas offshore wind technology is gradually gathering pace. In
2013, offshore wind power in the European Union represented 14% of the total
wind power installations, up by 4% from the previous year (SETIS, 2016).
Besides, the installed capacity of offshore wind in Europe is expected to reach
23.5 GW in 2020, more than three times the present capacity (EWEA, 2014).
The experience garnered through growth of installed capacity coupled with
extensive research and development in this field has enabled better and upscale
designs (Voormolen et al., 2016). Although offshore wind turbines involve
significantly higher upfront investment than their onshore counterparts, they
have numerous benefits, mainly lesser visual and environmental impacts,
better levels of reliability, and steadier yields per turbine. For example, the
typical annual yield from an offshore 3.6-MW wind turbine is 12 GWh, that is,
50% more than that of an onshore wind turbine of similar capacity (Siemens,
2014). Projections of various energy technologies made by the European
Union indicate that capital investment on offshore wind technology is likely
to decrease by more than 50%, whereas the technical lifetime of the turbines
is expected to increase from 20 to 30 years by 2050 (ETRI, 2014). If as
predicted, this technology becomes economically and technically viable, its
exploitation will represent an appropriate solution for the highly populated
coastal regions of Mauritius that also accommodate most of the energy-hungry
hotels.

Ocean Technologies

The marine environment is central to economic development of SIDS because
they depend heavily on the fisheries and tourism industries. The ocean also
stores tremendous energy in the form of currents, waves, tides, and heat flows
that can potentially supplement the power requirements of small islands. In
view of the vast exclusive economic zone of Mauritius that extends over a
2
surface area of 1.9 million km , the exploitation of the ocean can be envisaged