Ouarzazate, Morocco

In September 2012 a consortium composed of ACWA Power, Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas and TSK Electrónica y Electricidad became the winning bidder to develop a 160MW CSP plant in Morocco for the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN).

The 160MW Ouarzazate CSP Independent Power Project will represent Morocco’s first solar thermal plant when built as well as the largest CSP plant in the world, according to ACWA Power. It is part of MASEN’s larger Independent Power Project (IPP) which aims to develop a 500MW solar park at the Ouarzazate Solar Complex.

Located about 200km south of Marrakesh, the solar park will be composed of several utility-scale PV power plants. The Ouarzazate project will be the first plant within the complex. It will have a storage capacity of three hours which will be developed on a build, own, operate and transfer basis.

EPC services will be provided by a consortium composed of TSK Electrónica y Electricidad, Acciona Infrastructuras, Acciona Ingeniería, and Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas, while the operation and maintenance of the plant will be undertaken by another consortium led by First National Operation and Maintenance Company. It has inked a US$1 billion, 25-year power purchase agreement for the project with MASEN.

MASEN secured €300 million in project financing on 19 November and will act as sole lender for the project. It expects to sign a loan agreement with ACWA in the first quarter of 2013.

Construction is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2013, with commercial operation scheduled to begin in the second half of 2015.