Rabat - Morocco has launched an international call for tenders on Tuesday for the completion of the Central Noor IV project located in Ourzazate with a total capacity of 50 to 70 megawatts. The project is part of Noor Solar Power Project, the largest solar power complex in the world.
Rabat – Morocco has launched an international call for tenders on Tuesday for the completion of the Central Noor IV project located in Ourzazate with a total capacity of 50 to 70 megawatts. The project is part of Noor Solar Power Project, the largest solar power complex in the world.
The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) said it will take bids until the end of April for “the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance” of the project.
The bids could also include the Noor Laayoune and Noor Boujdour projects in the Sahara with a capacity of about 50 megawatts each, MASEN said in a communiqué.
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power International has won a $2 billion contract to build two solar power plants in the southern Moroccan city of Ourzazate.
ACWA Power is already building a 160MW plant in the first phase of the project.
The two plants totaling 350 megawatts are the second phase of the 500MW Ouarzazate project, which aims at producing 2 gigawatts of solar energy by 2020.
Consortiums led by Spain’s Abengoa, GDF’s International Power and ACWA Power were pre-selected for the 200 MW (Noor II) tender. The three groups were also pre-qualified for the 150 MW (Noor III) tender, along with another consortium led by Electricite de France (EDF).
To finance the plants, Morocco has secured loans of $519 million from the World Bank, 654 million euros from German state-owned bank KFW and the rest from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Commission and European Investment Bank.
The Noor Concentrated Solar Power Project is expected to contribute in Morocco’s efforts to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels by developing its renewable energy resources.
