Blake Lapthorn's Climate Change team were delighted to welcome Mike Mason and Mark Lynas to its final green breakfast of the Autumn 2011 series.

1. Decarbonising the Maldives
Lessons for everyone

4. What are our electricity choices?
Ocean Uneconomic Seasonal, expensive and move to different
places with the different monsoons
Currents
Ocean Uneconomic Unproved, expensive, and may never work
Thermal
Biomass $0.20cts/kWh Proved, simple, sustainable, 24 hrs/day, long
term fuel contracts available at fixed price.
Wind $0.18 ‐ Unreliable, seasonal, needs massive backup or
$0.25cts/kWh storage when used alone. No good data.
Solar $0.20cts/kWh Daytime only, slightly seasonal, small storage
requirement

5. Biomass for Malé
• Fuel Cost – 50% of diesel
• Contract – fixed price 7 years
• Sustainability – high with care
• Reliability – high
40MW Malé power station
saves $25M/yr. in foreign
exchange

6. Outer Islands ‐ Wind or Solar?
Intermittent Renewables
24
G1 O u
a 3 u t
i
a3 tp kW
16. 0
14. 4
•Wind
12. 8
u y 18 11. 2
HD
o a
9. 6
of
8. 0
r
12 6. 4
4. 8
3. 2
6
1. 6
0. 0
0
Ja n Fe b M ar Ap r May Ju n Ju l Au g Sep Oct No v De c
•Solar
– Choosing the cheapest first can cause real problems
•Batteries – very expensive
– Night time electricity 2.5x cost of daytime electricity

9. With even 25% solar energy the
With even 25% solar energy the
generators have to operate between
generators have to operate between
zero and full power – which is
zero and full power – which is
inefficient.
inefficient.
They must also turn on and reach full
They must also turn on and reach full
power in seconds – which is not possible
power in seconds – which is not possible

10. AVERAGE SOLAR COST
EFFECT OF
TARGET SOLAR COST
NIGHT TIME SOLAR COST BATTERIES
DAYTIME SOLAR COST

11. Grid Stability Challenges

12. Solutions
• Drive down night time consumption
– Street lights
– Fridges
– Air conditioners
– Equipment left on unnecessarily
• Cold water storage
– Oxford University Collaboration
• BETTER BATTERIES
– Ultra‐capacitors

13. The Bigger Problems – Sea Transport

14. No Easy Solutions
• 22% of total national emissions from marine
transport.
• Composite solution needed
– Better hulls
– Better skin friction
– Diesel electric hybrids
– Solar and wind assist
– BETTER BATTERIES

15. THE BIG ISSUES
• Politics
• Planning
• Grid Stability
• Batteries
• Batteries
• Batteries