Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has signed an agreement to set up a grid-connected 8 MW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Mauritius to help the island nation in its efforts to fight climate change.

The project is funded under the Government  of India’s Line of Credit (LOC) and has been secured by BHEL through a competitive bidding process. The project will be executed by BHEL’s Solar Business Division, Bengaluru and International Operations Division, New Delhi.

The solar farm will be set up by BHEL at Tamarind Falls, Henrietta (Phase II), Mauritius as a turnkey project on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis.

The contract has been awarded to BHEL by CEB (Green Energy) Co. Ltd, Mauritius, a wholly owned subsidiary of Central Electricity Board (CEB), of the  Mauritius government. The contract agreement for the project was exchanged between the Mauritian and Indian side during the visit of the Minister of External Affairs of India, S. Jaishankar, to Mauritius.

The solar project in Mauritius also marks the consolidation of BHEL’s presence in Africa, where it has been active for more than four decades with electricity generation projects and equipment supplies in 23 African countries with an an installed capacity of 2,100 MW.

Apart from conventional power plants (thermal, hydro & gas), BHEL has been contributing significantly to the development and promotion of solar energy over the past three decades.

BHEL has the technology for both grid-interactive and off-grid, ground mounted, rooftop, floating and canal top solar plants, with a current solar portfolio of more than 1 GW. In addition, BHEL is also manufacturing space-grade solar panels and batteries for space applications.