The UN-backed World Bank has approved a $519m finance package for the 350MW second phase of the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant being built in Ouarzazate, Morocco, giving the project a big jolt of momentum.
The initial 160MW phase of the Noor-Ouarzazate CSP plant – also partially financed by the World Bank – is under construction in central Morocco and due for completion next year.
The first phase alone will make Noor-Ouarzazate the largest CSP plant in the developing world, and once the second phase is brought online it will be the world’s largest.
Unlike the first phase, which is employing just parabolic-trough CSP technology, the second phase will also incorporate power-tower technology.
The first phase is being built by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power under a so-called BOOT contract – build, own, operate, and transfer – meaning that ownership will eventually be handed back to the Moroccan government.
ACWA has brought a number of experienced CSP players onto the project, including the Spanish trio of SENER, Acciona and TSK Grupo.
Noor-Ouarzazate is critical to Morocco’s ambitious plan to have 2GW of renewables capacity in place by 2020. Morocco is at present almost totally dependent on imported fossil fuels for electricity generation.
Last week General Electric announced a 56-turbine order for a 100MW wind farm in the country.
