President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has stated since the introduction of electricity service in the Maldives 72 years prior, the electricity service capacity had remained at 153 megawatts until the fruition of this government's efforts in 2018.
The President made the remarks while speaking at the ceremony held at Rasdhoo, Alifu Alifu Atoll, to conclude the campaign activities of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for the upcoming Local Council Elections (LCE) and the Women's Development Committee Elections (WDCE).
President Solih stated the current administration had, within a 2 year and 4 month period, successfully upgraded the existing electrical service carrying capacity by an additional 180 megawatts, outside the Greater Male’ Region. Speaking in this regard, the President detailed a total of 176 generators were imported, 402,303 metres of new cables were laid and design changes were incorporated to powerhouses to upgrade electricity grids to industry standards.
Highlighting the efforts to harness sustainable energy resources, the President revealed that a total of 2,868 kilowatts of solar power is being harvested from solar panels installed in two atolls. He noted the government is working on similar projects in 15 additional atolls through which an estimated 43,936 kilowatts of renewable power will be produced.
The President also delineated the areas of farming and fisheries. He said that the Agro National Corporation has signed 487 farmers for contract farming and that contract farming is currently underway at 35 islands in 12 atolls. He also detailed numerous projects to establish ice plants and cold storage facilities across the nation, noting with the completion of these projects, ice plants established in 20 islands will produce 525 tonnes of ice while 9,700 tonnes of capacity will be made available for cold storage across the nation.