NOOR II and NOOR III bid deadline extended

The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) has extended the application deadline for the second phase of its 500 MW NOOR concentrated solar plant by three months to mid-September 2014.

Located near the south central city Quarzazate, the NOOR CSP Next Program consists of two separate projects. The two installations will be treated as separate projects, with a parabolic trough chosen for the design of the 200 MW NOOR II plant and a solar power tower chosen for the 100 MW NOOR III project.

On 23 January, MASEN launched the request for qualification document (RFQ). On 1 August 2014 MASEN announced that a total of 3 and 4 consortia were pre-qualified to bid for the Noor II and Noor III projects respectively. They are:

NOOR II (200 MW Parabolic Trough):

• Abengoa SA and Abengoa Solar;
• International Company For Water and Power Projects (ACWA Power) and Sener Grupo De Ingeneria SA; and
• International Power SA (Dubaï branch of GDF Suez) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC/MASDAR.

NOOR III (100 MW Tower):

• Abengoa SA and Abengoa Solar;
• EDF SA, EDF Energies Nouvelles SA, Brightsource Energy Inc, Brookstone Partners Morocco SA, Alstom Power System SA and Mitsui & Co Ltd;
• International Company For Water and Power Projects (ACWA Power) and Sener Ingeneria y Systemas; and
• International Power SA (Dubaï branch of GDF Suez), Solar Reserve LLC and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC/MASDAR.