The Seychelles are a group of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 miles east of the coast of Africa. The archipelago currently relies on expensive and dirty diesel generators to produce most of its electricity, and fuel accounts for about 25% of the country’s total net imports. In short: Renewable energy makes a ton of sense there. That's why it's so cool to see that they just inaugurated their first wind farm.

 

It's located on Mahé Island, the biggest island of the Seychelles. It has a capacity of 6-megawatt, which should be enough to meet 8% of the island's electricity demand. That's enough to reduce emissions by 5,500 tons of carbon dioxide annually (and also reduce smog-forming emissions) and power more than 2,100 homes, saving 1.6 million litres of diesel fuel per year.

 

Island nations should be near ideal places for wind power. You get many of the benefits of offshore wind farms (out at sea, the wind almost always blows) but without the extra costs associated with deep-water construction.

 

Interestingly, the wind farm was developed by Masdar, an energy company owned by the government of Abu Dhabi via its Mubadala Development Company, and funded by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).