Concentrated Solar Power Plants to be Built in Morocco

Written by Makula Dunbar

Aug 23, 2013

Morocco plans to build two more concentrated solar power (CSP) plants producing 200 MW and 100 MW respectively at the southerly city of Ouarzazate, the country’s government has announced.

This follows the commencement of construction of a 160 MW CSP plant at Ouarzazate in May 2013, by Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia. Acwa Power won the contract for the first CSP plant in 2012 after offering a price of $0.19 per kilowatt/hour.

The newly announced projects will be supported through grants from the World Bank’s Clean Technology Fund, the European Investment Bank and German state-owned KfW Bank. The tenders for the new CSP projects will be launched at the start of the fourth quarter of 2013.

According to a Reuters report, Morocco’s solar energy agency (Masen) has said consortia led by Spain’s Abengoa, GDF’s International Power and Acwa Power have been pre-selected for the 200 MW (Noor II) tender. The three groups are also pre-qualified for the 100 MW tender, with another consortium led by France’s EDF.