Abraxas Secures Maldives Solar City Deal, Creating Floating Energy Hub

• Abraxas Power inks 100-MW floating “Solar City” deal in Maldives, nation’s first SEZ, poised to supply up to 50% of Greater Malé’s clean electricity.

Sun-soaked lagoons near the Maldivian capital will soon host one of the world’s largest ocean-based solar farms after Canada’s Abraxas Power Corp signed an investment pact with the Government of the Maldives. The agreement clears the way for “Solar City,” a 100-MW floating photovoltaic complex that will rise on newly reclaimed barrier islands four kilometres from Malé and Hulhumalé.

Marketed locally as Project Luminosity, the mixed-use renewable hub will combine solar generation with energy storage and auxiliary facilities for research and tourism. Once online it is expected to supply up to half of Greater Malé’s daytime electricity demand, sharply reducing the archipelago’s dependence on imported diesel and volatile global fuel prices. Analysts estimate the array could displace more than 90,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year—roughly the annual emissions of 20,000 Maldivian households.

President Mohamed Muizzu underscored the project’s strategic value by issuing a decree that designates the site a Special Economic Zone, the first ever created under the country’s SEZ Act. The status streamlines permitting and offers tax incentives, signalling a broader push to attract foreign capital into climate-resilient infrastructure.

“By leveraging sustainable innovation and strategic investment, we aim to cut emissions, lower energy costs, and meet up to 50 % of Greater Malé’s electricity demand with 100 % clean power,” said Abraxas chief executive J Colter Eadie, calling the project “a blueprint for island nations facing the twin threats of energy insecurity and sea-level rise.”

Abraxas will execute Solar City through its local vehicle APM SPV Pvt Ltd, working alongside Maldivian utilities on grid integration and marine engineering. Floating platforms will anchor to the seabed with minimal ecological disturbance, a technique already proven in freshwater reservoirs but still rare in open-ocean environments.

The project dovetails with the Maldives’ pledge at COP28 to source at least a third of its national energy mix from renewables by 2028—an ambition that hinges on substituting diesel gensets scattered across more than 200 inhabited islands. Officials say Solar City alone could cover a quarter of that target, positioning the Indian Ocean nation as a showcase for scalable, off-grid clean power in vulnerable coastal regions.

Ground-breaking is slated for early 2026 following environmental reviews, with full commissioning expected before the end of the decade.