Power System Modelling for Mauritius's Renewable Energy Transition
# Power System Modelling for Mauritius's Renewable Energy Transition
Modelling the road to 2030 and 2050 against current policy and market realities.
A power-system optimisation study of the Mauritian grid built with **urbs** (TU Munich's linear energy-system optimisation framework) via the webURBS interface. Four scenarios — a 2026 reference case, two 2030 pathways, and a fully decarbonised 2050 case — are cross-checked against Mauritius's energy history, current policy, and 2025–2026 market developments.
**Author:** Nischal Chaulagain · M.Sc. Management and Technology, TUM
**Supervisor:** Prof. Dr. Thomas Hamacher
**Context:** Project internship in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems · July 2026
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## Why Mauritius
Mauritius is a fully islanded power system — no interconnectors, no imported electricity — serving ~3.5 TWh/yr from a mix that was still roughly 80% fossil in 2024. It has committed to one of the more ambitious renewable targets among small island states (60% renewable electricity, a target since pushed from 2030 to 2035) and to eventual full decarbonisation. That combination makes it a clean test case: every megawatt of flexibility has to be built locally, so the model can't hide integration costs behind a neighbouring grid.
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## Scenarios
All four models are single-site (all generation aggregated to one Mauritius node), 8,760 hourly timesteps, solved with Gurobi.
| | **2026 Reference** | **2030 Target** | **2030 Battery Innovation** | **2050 CO₂-Neutral** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO₂ cap | none | 2.5 Mt | 2.5 Mt | **0** |
| CO₂ price | €24/t | €30/t | €30/t | €24/t |
| Demand | 3.55 TWh | 3.92 TWh | 3.92 TWh | 5.78 TWh |
| Utility PV cap | 121 MW | 800 MW | 800 MW | 1,300 MW |
| Rooftop PV cap | 21 MW | 250 MW | 250 MW | 1,200 MW |
| Onshore wind cap | 12 MW | 200 MW | 200 MW | 400 MW |
| Offshore wind cap | 0 MW | 30 MW | 30 MW | 300 MW |
| BESS energy cap | 740 MWh | 1,200 MWh | 1,200 MWh | unbounded |
| BESS round-trip η | 90.3% …