Some lanes of the highway connecting the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge and Hulhumale' will be closed every day at certain periods to facilitate the installation of solar panels on the highway.

The installation of solar panels is part of the Accelerating Private Investments in Renewable Energy (ASPIRE) project which is funded by the Climate Change Fund (CIF), the World Bank, and the Government of Maldives. The project aims at establishing a large-scale solar power system in the country, and to facilitate private investments in renewable energy in order to increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity generation mix on the Maldivian islands.

The project was contracted to Thailand-based Ensys Co Limited in November 2020.

An announcement by the Ministry on Thursday noted that for the solar panel installation works on the shoreline, the highway lane from Hulhumale' to Male' is expected to remain closed at certain periods.

The lane will be closed everyday except Fridays starting December 25th from 9:30am till 11:30am and 1:30pm till 4:30pm.

The announcement noted that the project will be completed by February 5th, adding that the closing times were decided after discussions with the relevant authorities. The Ministry had appealed everyone to be mindful of these timings while traveling from the highway.

The solar panel initiative will harness 7.3 million units of electricity annually. This will estimately save between MVR 15 to 20 million from state expenditures.