Photon.info
The European Union has granted a 465 million MAD ($47.8 million) loan to the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) for the construction of the 150 MW CSP Noor III solar project, according to Moroccan newspaper Le Matin. EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete and the president of the MASEN Mustapha Bakkoury have signed an agreement for the financing at the end of last week.
In January, MASEN awarded Saudi energy company ACWA Power and Spanish system integrator Sener the contract to build the NOORO II and NOORO III CSP power plants, being developed as part of the Ourazazate CSP complex near Ourazazate, Morocco. According to MASEN, the NOORO II project will have a capacity of 200 MW and will deliver electricity to the country’s grid at a price of 1.36 MAD ($0.14) per kWh. The NOORO III project will have a capacity of 150 MW and will sell electricity to the grid at a price of 1.42 MAD per kWh.
In December, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) agreed to provide a €100 million ($123.1 million) loan as well as another $119 million for the second phase of the Noor-Ouarzazate CSP project. According to AfDB, the $119 million loan will come from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), one of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF). The first 160 MW phase of the Ouarzazate CSP complex is already under development. © PHOTON
