ACWA Power signs solar project in Morocco

A consortium led by ACWA Power has signed an agreement to develop and operate 170 MW Noor 1 PV plants in the Kingdom of Morocco.

As we reported in early June a consortium led by Acwa Power submitted the lowest tariff price US$4.797 cents a kilowatt hour.

The NOOR PV I Programme will consist of three projects: NOOR Ouarzazate IV with a capacity of around 7O MW, NOOR Laayoune, 80 MW and NOOR Boujdour 20 MW.

In collaboration with the Chint Group, Sterling & Wilson and Shapoorji Pallonji, ACWA Power will undertake the NOOR PV I Programme, launched by Masen (Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy), under a 20-year build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) scheme.

Masen has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) to off-take the output generated electricity and will also act as a shareholder together with ACWA Power in addition to sole lender. The tariff rate is US$46/MWh.

Chairman of ACWA Power, Mr. Mohammad Abunayyan said:

“With vigour and vision, the government of Morocco is racing toward a renewable energy target of 42%, and ACWA Power is proud to collaborate in achieving this ambitious target. It is an immense vote of reliability on ACWA Power to have been selected for yet another stretch of Morocco’s sustainable energy strategy and it was realised here at this critically important COP22 event in Marrakech. In the vein of the NOORo Solar Complex in Ouarzazate, this programme will not only focus on the delivery of energy at low-cost, but it will also push to engineer a strategy of employment creation and economic development from green energy.

Morocco today has almost achieved its 42% of renewable energy target for 2020 with the current power plants that are operating and under development, and they are now heading quickly towards the next target for 2030”

President and CEO of ACWA Power Paddy Padmanathan added:

“The Moroccan Kingdom has invested in a more sustainable future. Already they have not only sought to reduce carbon emissions but to also dramatically redefine the country’s energy mix in just a matter of years – they are leading this decisive move from the industrial revolution to a green revolution. These are ambitious targets for any government and ACWA Power is honoured to contribute to this visionary and vital journey with the NOOR PV I Programme.”

Construction on NOOR PV I will begin in Q1 2017 and is estimated to take 12 months to complete.

The plants will produce enough electricity to power thousands homes every year, using photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to generate electricity.