Mr Kasenally words are full of wisdom and right beyond any doubt. BUT what he do when he was Chairman of the CEB. Lucrative contracts where given the IPP including Belle Vue . The whole electricity markey need reforming just like politics in Mauritius.

No doubt time is our enemy on this one. The facts highlighted will not change the dilemma we are faced with.1>coal is no good.2>heavy fuel oil is no good!. subsidise solar cells, install geothermal plants, harness the wind, make into law green building concepts and advertise economising hotwater,ac and artificial light. What bunch of retarded visioneers will go back to coal and fossil fuel.????

Reading the comments of Kassenaly, i have found no concrete proposal, instead you hve not think outside the box, we are not in the 80's to solve 2012 problems

@Jackychan: you have a point, though the price of Fuel Oil and Coal is way too low for solar, geothermal investment to be worth it. About $150/barrel, what you are saying will make excellent sense.
@mahesh: I have no access to Swaley Kasenally's record as the Chairman of the CEB but I will assume that these lucrative contracts followed due process and came with due cost to the vendors. I would agree that the market needs reform, but how?
My suggestion is strip down much of the decision making to a few core, qualified experts. A 9-month decision horizon is shameful, even for a small country like ours, and could lead to catastrophe. Public works need a streamlined decision process, with proper energy economists driving these decisions. Not only does the whole electricity market need reforming as you point out, but the whole government does. Enough waste!

@Too right: Jackychan is right though. Oil prices have already hit 140+ USD in 2008 and with the upcoming decline in oil production and ever-growing demand from emerging markets, it is unlikely that oil will remain cheap. Investing today in renewable energies is just like buying a home instead of renting it : while it's more expensive upfront, it makes sense in the long term. At least this money spent is staying in-country. Plus it's the only viable option to build a sustainable and environmentally friendly future. I for one would be happy to pay more for "green" electricity, at least the CEB should offer this option for those who wish it.

The economics of energy does not follow the 'paradigm' and conceptual framework suggested by the author... It is increasingly irritating that all former/existent UoM Academic staff hail their posture as energy economists.... the economics of oil/petroleum is not market fundamentals led, but geopolitically led, and hence my decision since 1987 to introduce energy hedging to Mauritius, when the author and other UoM Academics of his time did not venture to gauge the impact analysis of such risk management techniques in the 1980s 1990s, as they are not trained econometricians nor energy economists... Currently we have yet another UoM-led Energy Wisdom which is fundamentally flawed, as it is engineering-based and not economics based.... energy per se has no intrinsic value except its correlation with energy intensity, growth- production possibility frontier catalyst and as an engine for a Developmental Model ....based on socio-economic paradigms....Most investment appraisals for energy projects are not transparent []CEB/IPP Coal and Transfer pricing onto CEB grid] and politicians and retired Cabinet members should be only too aware how corporate governance in the Mauritian energy economics is tainted with vested interests and balance of power between Government and private sector interests which often converge to maintain opacity and lack of corporate governance.... No wonder this biased paradigm has permeated our MID framework and skewed the real issues into a rut...
Sadek
Consultant Energy Economist []UK IPA Energy Economics Ltd, London]

@helloworld: we all love green energy, but who is going to pay? Schools perhaps? Or hospitals. The money has to come from somewhere. That's why we still have coal...
@helloworld: refreshing to hear your perspective as an energy economist. Gripes with academics and former MPs aside, would you be willing to lead such a reform? Obviously, a transparent process where the best decisions are made, led by qualified people such as yourself is VITAL.

Salam Dear Swalley, Long time no see you and your articles...hope all go well for u in this holy month.

@Yugesh R: I'm not saying "green" is cheaper right now. And I'm not promoting "green" out of pseudo-ecological dogma. One needs to think on the long term.

It is actually very simple. Because of our economies' addiction to oil, prices of *everything* worldwide is largely dependant on oil price. Remember African food / hunger crisis in 2008? Oil price.

Worldwide peak oil production is already being reached. Because of our addiction to oil and upcoming oil production declines, oil prices WILL go up a lot.

Which means that prices of EVERYTHING will go up, including solar arrays and wind turbines!

We need to at least diversify energy sources before doing so becomes prohibitively expensive. Say aim at 30% renewable within 5-10 years for instance. Nobody right in their mind want to see Mauritius locked into an ever-increasing, pricey foreign fossil fuel dependancy.

It is often said "we can't afford to go sustainable". My argument is that we CANNOT afford not to go now, before it's too late. Yes, it's more expensive right now. No, we don't have alternative choices.

Some basics seem to have been forgotten in all this analysis: Has one made an estimate of the number of 40 tons trucks required per day to keep a 2 X 55 MW coal plant running 24 hour per day? The figure could be frightening! Does one know that coal is the most polluting of all fossil energy sources? Furthermore does one have an idea of the maximum thermal efficiency achievable by a coal plant running on steam rankine cycle? Not very high! In comparison although volatility of oil prices must be recognized, does one think other fossil energy prices will say low? Some sellers are already talking of energy content of their fuel when setting their selling prices. And does one know that these medium speed oil engines have a thermal efficiency of up to 42%? Cost per installed kW and the lead time for constuction of an oil plant are definitely interesting factors that must be considered in the economics of all that. In the end what can be said is the for an island like Mauritius the objective should be to: 1) reduce national energy consumption by appropriate energy management techniques 2) maximise use of renewable energy like bagasse, solar (thermal & photovoltaic), wind, hydro and, why not, use of energy + desalination plants extremely efficient plants deserving (to be investigated). Plus implement Demand Side Management by the CEB. The approach must be holistic and on all fronts simultaneously.It is not difficult to work out how much potential renewable energy Mauritius can develop at best including bagasse + solar + hydro etc. From there the amount needed from other sources can be worked out and an energy plan developped.

I do not seem any mention of sustainability here. What's happened to ile maurice, ile durable? Comment peut on demander aux autres pays de reduire leur emissions de gaz effet de serre quand nous voulons investir dans le charbon?
As an island state, we have to practise what we preach and invest in renewable energy, even though it may cost more money.

This is the point of view of a consumer,not an energy economisi,nor an energy economitiician.Far from it.The piece from Dr Swalley Kasenally,though interesrting is somehow not convincing.It somehow does not add up.His article appers to be more a public relation exercise on behalf of a person/s or group! The article really fails to substantiate the why a coal power station is more advatageous over a hecy oil one in terms of cost and pollution both in terms of dust and noise,not to mention disruption to the traffic flow .It conjures up a dream,where a bridge seems to be the principal actor!Dr Kasenally could have talked about the prohibitive,if not abusing cost of wind turbines and its very negative effect on the pocket of the consumers.He could have elaborated with proof a l'appui,on the pros and cons of wave power!He could in fact have talked about research carried out by UoM,in the eralier eighties on wave power...and indeed why was it acruptky stopped.The Guardian nespaper at the time in a feature has praise UoM anf thought that wave power was very promising."It is essential that the debate on the expansion plan of our electricity generation capacity should henceforth be refocused on its economics making abstraction of social and cultural lobbies and other pressure groups as they are irrelevant to the issues at stake."...everyone in their right mind will agree with this statement...untik that is they take a look at the C T Power saga.To note that the Tribunal has argued that a permit should be given to C T Power
to go ahead with its project,provided it abides and implement ten conditions,imposed by the Tribunal (EAT).So who should pay through the nose for the implementation of those ten conditons?How doesthis benefit Mauritius as a whole as well as its electricity consumers?We are here talking in terms of billions of rupees worth of hard earned foreign currency!!!Colud this amount of money not spent on a nuclear powered station,based say on Coin de Mire island?A nuclear powered station that will meet all the electricity requirements of Mauritius and beyond!Very clean,non-polluting energy,for that matter!What about a desalination plant that can also produce electricity? Desalinated water used exclusively by industry,flush our toilets,wash our buses,metro leger,lorries,cars etc...Anyway what is the curent status of reseach in terms of electricity in Mauritius?What about the Mauritius Reseach Council?What has the latter been up to for the last decades and what is up to right now?Xis fer zoli lor televizyon?Kas poz lor televizyon?This article by Dr Swaley Kasenally tastes very much like wine, diluted...

We should produce electricity by upgrading the HYDRO Power Plant & also nvest in HYDRO project. ..................