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Rabat – The reliability test “is one more step in the start-up of the facility, which is nearing commercial operation and final delivery to the client,” Sener wrote in a statement on November 7.
On September 26, Sener announced it would start final testing of Morocco’s Noor III solar power plant in Ouarzazate to prepare for commercial operation.
Sener completed the first synchronization of the Noor III plant to the Moroccan grid in August.
The company is expecting to deliver the plant by the end of 2018.
“With this reliability test, which ran for ten straight days, Noor Ouarzazate III has demonstrated its ability to output its rated power to the grid under changing weather conditions, and even after sunset,” wrote Sener.
The plant’s central receiver with a molten salt storage system will enable Noor III to produce electricity without sunlight for 7.5 hours.
Read also: Sener to Soon Connect Morocco’s Noor Solar Power Plant III to Grid
According to Sener, the plant added over 13.2 gigawatts to the grid during the 10-day test.
The plant will be able to supply enough electricity for 120,000 households and save 130,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Noor III is a 150 megawatt thermal tower plant which spans 750 hectares and is expected to supply 500 gigawatt hours per year.
The Noor III plant is part of the Noor project in the Sahara desert, 10 kilometers northeast of Ouarzazate, in central Morocco.
“Once operational, it will mark a turning point in the [solar power station] (CSP) sector worldwide,” said Anas Raisuni, Sener’s regional managing director in Morocco.
The Noor project has three phases and four parts: Noor I, Noor II, Noor III, and Noor IV. Noor CSP plants can store solar energy in the form of heated molten salt, allowing the plants to produce electricity into the night.
The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) has been managing the solar complex project along with ACWA Power, as part of Morocco’s Noor Solar Plan, the leading solar energy project in the MENA region.
Read also: King Mohammed VI’s Renewable Energy Goals Reached Within Deadline
Sener was founded in 1956 and has more than 2,500 professionals in its centers in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa.
Sener has been involved in 29 solar plants in Spain, the US, South Africa, and Morocco. Sener’s solar plants have an installed capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts and save more than 1 million tons of CO2 emissions a year.
In 2017, the group’s operating revenue exceeded €766 million.
