25 July 2012: The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) has reported on a project that is providing off-grid renewable energy to the Aldabra Atoll, a Ramsar and World Heritage Site in Seychelles. The Atoll used to rely on diesel fuel shipped to the island.

According to Ramsar, the four-year, €500,000 project began in 2008, and now supplies almost 100% of the Atoll’s energy needs through solar energy. The new system is a solar-diesel hybrid complemented by an improved efficiency diesel generator, which will only be used when the solar-supplied batteries are discharged by uninterrupted cloudy weather for several days.

The project is carried out by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), after being started with an energy audit supported by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). [Ramsar Press Release]