Maldives appeals to world for technical help with carbon neutral plan

The current draft of the plan focuses on using solar energy to generate most of the country’s electricity and cut emissions by 60 percent before 2020.

The plan suggests that up to 80 percent of the electricity island communities use could be derived from renewable energy, without the cost of energy increasing.  The plan also proposes a shift to wind, batteries and biomass to complement solar power, retaining existing diesel generators for reserve power.

The Ministry of Economic Development revealed that economic modeling had shown that it was already cheaper to generate electricity from solar photovoltaic panels than from diesel on many Maldivian islands.