The wind farm built a cost of US$200 million will be in the Gaafaru island in North Male atoll and will supply power to the capital Male, the international airport at Hulhule island and nearby resorts, through submarine cables.
The Maldives State Electric Company Limited, STELCO, runs a network in the capital with 38.76MW of capacity, 26 kilometers of underground cables supplying power to 25,000 customers.
The plan was unveiled on Monday at a ceremony attended by Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and representatives from GE Energy, Falcon Energy and STELCO, at the STELCO head office in Male.
Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed says the plant will reduce dependence on oil and move underlined "environmental consciousness and financial prudence" of the atoll state.
In March, Maldives announced that it wants to be carbon neutral in 10 years.
"We want the Maldives to be the place to test renewables. We want the Maldives to be the place to build renewables," Nasheed said in a statement.
"We will position the Maldives as a showcase for renewable energy."
The wind farm project is expected to cut the island's carbon dioxide emissions by up to 25 per cent.
Maldives is believes that its low lying island could go under water due to global warming and melting polar ice caps.
Proponents of the theory believe that a steady global warming is taking place, and that it has anthopogenic origins or is caused due to human action such as the emission of 'greenhouse' gases like carbon dioxide.
Tourism is a key source of revenue for the state.
Maldives said the wind farm would allow inhabited and resort islands in North Male atoll to switch off their existing diesel generators.
On windy days, excess electricity generated by the wind plant will be used to run a desalination plant, which will produce bottled drinking water.
On calm days, a liquefied natural gas plant will provide 50MW of back-up power.
The Maldives say the project will provide jobs of many of the 800 inhabitants of Gaafaru in maintaining the wind farm equipments and facilities.
A feasibility study will be carried out by GE Energy, a unit of US-based General Electric. The plant will use GE equipment.
(LBO) rw

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