Africa-Press – Mauritius. Eight students who benefitted from the Mauritius Renewable Energy Agency (MARENA) Scholarship Scheme for training of Renewable Energy Professionals were awarded their respective certificate, this morning, at the Caudan Arts Centre, Le Caudan, in Port Louis.
The Award ceremony was held in the presence of the Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Mr Georges Pierre Lesjongard; the British High Commissioner, Ms Charlotte Pierre; the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mrs Amanda Serumaga; and other personalities.
The Signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the MARENA and the British High Commission so as to enable the implementation of this Scholarship Scheme as well as awarding the Scholarship to new awardees was held on the same occasion.
In his keynote address, the Minister congratulated the MARENA as well as the British High Commission and the UNDP, who are partners in this scheme, for this laudable initiative which acts as a stepping stone towards expanding the base of trained professionals in the renewable energy sector. This scholarship scheme, Mr Lesjongard underscored, is meant for unemployed engineering graduates, technicians and engineers.
The first round of the scheme will enable eight candidates to benefit from tuition fees in respect of two courses, namely, on photovoltaic (PV) energy systems from the University of Mauritius and, installation and maintenance of small-scale PV systems from the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD).
In addition, the Minister highlighted that such initiatives will enable to bridge the gap between untapped labour potential in the market and capacity building opportunities.
With the assistance of our local institutions, namely, the University of Mauritius and the MITD, it has been possible to create these short courses on renewable energy technologies, he stated.
Furthermore, he underlined that green energy will soon become the new economic pillar as the Republic of Mauritius has been blessed with natural endowments to develop its solar, wind and marine energy sectors.
Moreover, the country also has the financial assistance, the technology in the field of energy as well as the commitment of the Government to take measures for the training and empowerment of professionals in this sector, the Minister added.
On this score, Mr Lesjongard enumerated certain measures being taken by the Government to promote the use of renewable energy, notably: updating the 2019 renewable energy roadmap for the electricity sector in order to determine the energy mix to achieve the 60% target set for 2030; the commitment to phase out the use of coal by 2030; investment on the market by the Central Electricity Board (CEB) in order to be aware of development of projects relating to the setting up of renewable energy hybrid facilities incorporating solar, wind, bagasse, biomass and other renewable energy technologies and; the launching of an expression of interest by MARENA for ocean renewable energy technologies, including offshore wind, tidal and wave energy, amongst others.
The Minister also spoke of the revamping and upgrading of the CEB Centre de Formation et de Perfectionnement Professionnel as a budget measure that will effectively support the green industry in the near future.
In this context, CEB will shortly enlist the services of a consultant to set up this new institution, which will have the critical mandate of working with relevant stakeholders to provide tailor-made courses for the professionals and technicians in the renewable energy sector, he indicated.
For her part, the British High Commissioner underlined that the Government of the United Kingdom is pleased to collaborate with MARENA and the UNDP in this initiative as green jobs are essential for sustainable development as well as to tackle the climate emergency.
She expressed satisfaction as regards the commitment from the Government of Mauritius towards climate change and its contribution to making the global transition to clean power a reality.
This initiative, Ms Pierre added, reflects how Government, alongside other stakeholders in Mauritius, can work together to grasp the opportunities of a green industrial revolution and meet the challenges of supporting low carbon sectors, their workers and the wider community.
As for the UNDP Representative in Mauritius, she dwelt on the UNDP’s contribution to Mauritius in the shift towards decarbonisation of the economy notably through: the support of the grid code for small scale distributed generation and contributing to laying the foundation for electricity generation from renewable energy at a national scale in 2019; an assistance to secure a grant of USD 2 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the Removal of Barriers to Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation Project in 2011; and an assistance to secure another grant of USD 28 million from the Green Climate Fund in 2016 to further assist the Government of Mauritius in overcoming identified barriers to low carbon investment, among others.
