Green Prophet
Tafline Laylin
Africa’s largest wind farm to date is slated to begin construction as soon as a long-delayed financing agreement is completed, according to Wind Power Monthly.
Morocco’s state utility Office National d’Electricite (ONE)awarded a $350 million, 20-year PPA contract for the 300 MW Tarfaya wind power plant to a consortium consisting of the local firm Nareva and the UAE-based Karabel Fez/International Power (a subsidiary of GDF Suez Energy International) and International Power from the UK after months of haggling over the details.
The plant, which will be financed by Attijariwafa Bank, Banque Marocaine du Commerce Extérieur (BMCE) and France’s Banque Populaire, will be built astride the Atlantic ocean in southern Morocco.
It is said to be the largest such plant on the African continent.
“The plant is to be constructed on a build, operate and transfer basis. The original idea was that it would be brought on line in phases of at least 50MW each, with the first 200MW completed in 2013. No new timetable has been revealed,” Wind Power Monthly reports.
Morocco has already installed 147MW of wind power with an additional 975 MW in the pipeline, according to a Wikipedia entry.
This combined with the country’s ambitious solar energy program brings the North African country closer to its goal of deriving 42% of the country’s overall energy demand from renewable sources by 2020.
:: Wind Power Monthly
Image credit: Wind turbine against blue sky, Shutterstock
Browse topics: cleantech, renewable energy, Tarfaya, wind energy
