Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology has announced temporary closures of specific sections of the Hulhule’-Hulhumale’ Link Road to facilitate the installation of solar panels.
The environment ministry stated that the closures will be in place until the end of September. Specifically, one lane will be temporarily closed each morning from 1000 -1130hrs, and solar panel installation will take place on each lane on different days The ministry has reassured the public that traffic will not be halted during these closures. However, the ministry has advised caution when using the link road during installation hours. As such, five specific sections will be intermittently closed for installation. Various sections of the link road have previously undergone temporary closures for different project-related work in the past.
The installation of the 5MW solar power system on the link road began on December 7. The project is financially supported by the World Bank as part of the Accelerating Sustainable Private Investment in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) initiative. Thailand-based Ensys Company Limited has been awarded the project and will also be responsible for its ongoing maintenance. The initiative stands as the largest project of its kind in the Maldives under the second phase of ASPIRE. The solar power system is anticipated to significantly reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels and enable the government to save USD 1.3 million annually.