Khalil Elahee, is a lecturer at the University of Mauritius. He has been involved in the “Maurice île durable” project. He gives his views to Nicolas Rainer on the energy generation issue.

How do you explain that the Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) ped by 4.1% while electricity sales increased by 0.7%?

It shows that energy management is a fundamental aspect of our energy policy and even of the Maurice: île durable (MID) project as a whole. Our energy needs have ped despite an economic growth rate of 2.5%. Also, electricity demand has stabilized, which is good news seeing that until recently it was growing by 5% annually. Over and above the decline of certain economic activities, this is also indicative of a re-engineering of our economy towards sectors that are less energy-intensive. It’s also worth noting that sensitization campaigns about MID, compact fluorescent light bulbs and the increase in the use of solar-water heaters have contributed to greater energy sobriety.

What do the 8.7% decrease in coal consumption and the slight in energy intensity tell us?

Coupled with the decrease in the TPES, these figures show two things: firstly, that there’s no pressing need for a new coal-fired power station and, secondly, that we really need a coherent action plan in order to attain our other objectives. Demand-side management is absolutely vital if we want to increase the contribution of renewable energies to the energy mix.

There was also some less positive news though. Total energy production from renewable energy fell by 10.6%. According to the CSO, this was due to a “lower production of bagasse”, which comprises more than 92% of our renewable energy mix. Should we be weary of an overreliance on the stuff?

We definitely need to diversify our sources of energy. I don’t currently have the figures for bagasse, but it’s obvious that biomass isn’t use very efficiently. I look forward to seeing wind energy join the mix next year.

Globally, what’s the most salient feature to emerge from these figures?

The Light Rail Transit System project is back on the cards. We’ll have to start thinking about how we’re going to power this mode of transport. Is it going to be biodiesel or electricity? The latter approach will only be credible if we espouse a holistic approach that takes into account not only energy production, but also urbanism, transport, the future of the cane industry, the production of electricity from biomass and the social implications of MID. Finally, we’ll have to give a real chance to the Cane Democratisation Fund if we’re to succeed in generating clean energy for the transport sector.

Nicholas RAINER