Highway lane to close for solar panel installation
During certain hours, the lane will be closed from Sunday till February 5.
Environment ministry on Thursday advised highway users to be cautious as one lane of the road from Hulhumale to Male on the Male-Hulhumale link road is to be closed mostly during the day for installation of solar panels.
The motorcycle lane closer to the sea will be closed to set up the structure for the panels:
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Morning: 9.30 to 11.30am
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Afternoon: 1.30 to 4.30pm
During these hours, the lane will be closed from Sunday till February 5. During this period, one lane will be closed at designated hours every day, except Fridays.
As part of the World Bank-funded Accelerating Sustainable Private Investment in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) project, Thailand's Encis Co Ltd was awarded the contract to set up a solar power generation system on the greater Male area link road in November 2020. Work on the framework for installing solar panels on the road under the project began two months ago and the work on installing panels in the same structure was inaugurated early this month.
Project Summary:
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Solar panels are expected to be installed and power generation is expected to start by middle of next year
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The system is designed to be capable of capturing wind speeds of up to 115 km per hour
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5 MW solar power to be generated per day
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7.3 million power units to be generated annually
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The rate at which generated solar power is sold to STELCO is 10.09 cents per unit (MVR 1.681)
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Encis Co will maintain the system for 15 years, after which STELCO will take over the system
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MVR 15-20 million can be saved annually from fuel expenditure
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This will be the largest solar panel installation in the country so far
