The Agricultural Marketing Board (AMB) of the Government of Mauritius has invited bids for the construction of a solar project at AMB in the Moka district in the central plateau of the island.

The Agricultural Marketing Board operates under the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security of Mauritius.

This is a design-build and turnkey contract, but the capacity of the solar PV project has not been stated in the tender document.

The last date for the submission of bids is April 23, 2020. Interested bidders can purchase the bidding documents by paying a non-refundable fee of local currency ₹500 (~$12.20). Interested bidders must pay a sum of ₹200,000 (~$4,878.9) as a bid security deposit. The pre-bid meeting was held on March 16, 2020. According to the tender document, any prospective overseas bidder can also participate in this bidding.

Back in 2018, Mercom reported that the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development had announced that it would provide a concessional loan worth $25 million for the development of two solar photovoltaic projects in Mauritius and Rwanda.

In Mauritius, the ADFD loan of $10 million was to help the Central Electricity Board install solar PV systems on 10,000 households, according to the report. The initiative was part of the Mauritius government’s efforts to alleviate poverty while contributing to the national target of increasing the share of renewable electricity in the energy mix of the country to 35% by the year 2025.

Earlier, it was reported that all 21 countries of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) adopted the Delhi Declaration on Renewable Energy in the Indian Ocean Region. India, Australia, Iran IR, Indonesia Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Singapore, Mauritius, Madagascar, UAE, Yemen, Seychelles, Somalia, Comoros, and Oman are members of IORA. IORA was set up to strengthen regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean Region.

image credit: Atlas Renewable Energy

Anjana is a news editor at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, she held roles of senior editor, district correspondent, and sub-editor for The Times of India, Biospectrum and The Sunday Guardian. Before that, she worked at the Deccan Herald and the Asianlite as chief sub-editor and news editor. She has also contributed to The Quint, Hindustan Times, The New Indian Express, Reader’s Digest (UK edition), IndiaSe (Singapore-based magazine) and Asiaville. Anjana holds a Master’s degree in Geography from North Bengal University, and a diploma in mass communication and journalism from Guru Ghasidas University, Bhopal.