60 per cent of power used in the Maldives would be generated from solar energy: Minister of Environment

Mohamed Aslam, Minister of Environment, has said that 60 per cent of power used in the Maldives would be generated from renewable solar energy in the future, as per the plans and vision of the Government.

The Minister made the statement while addressing the first meeting of South Asia Regional Task Force, a new international body of the SAARC nations formed at his initiative. The meeting is being held at Jodhpur, India. Minister Aslam took the initiative to form the new international agency a while ago, at the Asia Solar Energy Forum held in Bangkok by Asian Development Bank.

Pointing at the efforts of the Maldivian Government towards its efforts to reach the goal of making the country carbon-neutral, the Minister said that his Government had already decided to achieve the target of generating 60 per cent of electric power used in the country from solar energy. He also said that projects would be planned and executed in 3 islands of the country in order to achieve this target.

Minister Aslam highlighted the importance of the participation of as many as possible in the South Asia Regional Task Force if it is to successfully work to make the SAARC Region a carbon-neutral society.

The South Asia Regional Task Force will work to develop public-private partnership in the area of encouraging and developing the use of renewable energy, and also in exchanging information and conducting various projects of renewable energy in the region.

At Jodhpur, Minister Aslam met some multinational companies which work in the solar energy industry in order to provide them with information on investment opportunities in the area in the Maldives.