HSBC Mauritius hosted a high-level roundtable on Thursday, May 14, at Hennessy Park Hotel in Ebène that brought together for the second time running, public and private sector leaders and development partners to connect the local shores with global best practice on energy transition and energy security.
One of the key highlights was the participation of various stakeholders, hailing from the Governments of Mauritius and Western Australia, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). It also saw the participation of regulators, finance, and development partners to help spur the financing of Mauritius’ electricity grid modernisation and energy storage—critical enablers for scaling renewable energy and strengthening energy security.
The event was opened by the CEO & Head of Banking, HSBC Mauritius, Hajrah Sakauloo, while at the same time featuring an address by the Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Hon. Patrick Assirvaden.
Discussions also centred on two priorities to unlock the energy transition of Mauritius, namely, financing the modernisation of Mauritius’ national electricity grid, and how isolated grids can finance a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, drawing lessons from Western Australia.
Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Hon. Patrick Assirvaden underlined, “Today’s meeting comes at a pivotal moment for the global energy transition and for Mauritius. We’re placing particular interest in the model developed by Western Australia—an isolated grid like ours—which has shown that renewables can be scaled rapidly while maintaining stability through solar, battery storage, infrastructure upgrades and regulatory innovation.”
The Minister added, “Mauritius is undertaking a genuine reset of our energy sector. Our ambition is clear: 60 percent renewable energy by 2035, backed by a 405 MW programme over the next three years and measures to improve bankability and speed up delivery. To move at the pace required, we also need faster, more responsive support from international partners in financing and technical assistance.”
The CEO & Head of Banking, HSBC Mauritius, Hajrah Sakauloo commented, “As a multinational group actively supporting the climate transition across the territories where we operate, we at HSBC are keen to share best practices that can be relevant for Mauritius. With the rise in electric vehicles and data centres for AI, electricity demand is set to boom exponentially. In the coming years, they will require much more energy and power than today. And this has to be green energy, which means a bigger grid and a modern and digital one.”
She added, “If this green power infrastructure challenge is addressed, Mauritius could seize a major economic opportunity in the region through its favourable time zone and geographical position. Mauritius could be a regional DR site for AI and data centres, potentially generating significant revenues, if planned properly.”
While the Chairperson of the Mauritius Renewable Energy Agency (MARENA), Prof. Khalil Elahee, spoke on how the island can advance grid modernisation and energy storage to enable a power system that supports high shares of variable renewable energy by 2030.
On the other hand, the HSBC Group, Global Head for Clean Power Systems, Randolph Brazier, highlighted that grids and storage are often the “forgotten parts” of the clean electrification journey, even as renewables have surpassed global coal power for the first time in more than 100 years. He noted that global investment in transmission and distribution networks is forecast to reach USD 3.3 trillion between 2024 and 2030—around USD 480 billion per year—underscoring the scale of capital required to modernise power systems. He also emphasised that battery energy storage systems (BESS) are now the most mature, cost-effective, large-scale form of zero-emissions flexibility available today.
