Spatial modelling and policy evaluation of the offshore wind potential for a small oceanic island: the case of Mauritius

The identification of offshore wind farms necessitates the consideration of multiple factors, including technical, social, economic, and ecological ones, amongst others. In the current study, a multi-criterial model is applied by incorporating wind speed, water depth, grid proximity, tourism activities, and marine spatial constraint factors to determine optimum sites for offshore wind farm placements in the Republic of Mauritius. The North-Eastern region, off the coast of Grand Gaube, has been found to be promising, with an annual electricity potential of 1650 GWh, owing to favourable wind regime of about 7.95 m/s at 100 m height. Moreover, the site location, at an average water depth of 38 m, favours the adoption of conventional jacket foundation. A levelized cost analysis reveals that the electricity generated from the offshore farm would be priced at $163/MWh, which makes it cost-competitive as compared to heavy fuel oil at $218/MWh. A scenario looking at the installation of a 608 MW offshore wind plant, which represents the theoretical maximum that may be attained in the optimum region identified, revealed that exploitation of this site has the potential to decrease up to 1.5 times the share of imported fuel oil and diesel for electricity needs. Besides providing guidelines for the implementation of offshore wind technology in Mauritius, the paper reflects on important gaps for adoption, including factors that seek to ease policy uptake.