Project General Description
The project is part of the deployment of the Moroccan Solar Programme (NOOR), which aims to develop a total power generating capacity of at least 2 000 MW by 2020. The first project under this programme was the Ouarzazate complex, with a total capacity of 580 MW, spread over four plants. The first plant (160 MW) was commissioned in January 2016 and the others will go operational in 2018. Two other sites totalling100 MW are currently being developed and will be commissioned in 2018. The project before the Board aims to developtwo solar power plants (NOORMI and NOORMII) with a cumulative capacity of up to 800 MW, under a public-private partnership (PPP). Theplants will be connected to the national grid and will have a total annual output estimated at 1 886 GWh, thus guaranteeing electricity supplyfor more than 2 million Moroccans (almost 6% of the total population) and helping to avoid the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases equivalent to 0.7 million tonnes of CO2per year. The project will help to improve the security of power supply in Morocco (whereelectricity is used by 99% of the population). It will be implemented by MASEN based on the same mechanisms put in place for previous projects (NOOR Ouarzazate Solar Complex -Phases I & II), which were financed by the same donors (including the Bank) and whose performance in terms of implementation is deemed satisfactory. The total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 2 048 million. The donors involved in itsfinancing are, in addition to the Bank and the CTF, AFD, WB, EIB, KFW and NIF/EU. The project will be implemented over 48 months (2018-2021).
Project Objectives
The objective of the project is to contribute to reducing Morocco’s dependence on external sources for its energy supply and on imported fossil fuels, by developing electricity generation from renewable sources, using innovative technologies. The NOOR Midelt Solar Complex Project will be implemented in several phases under a PPP power generation arrangement, covering the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of solar power plants over a 25-year period. The first phase will comprise two hybrid solar power plants (NOORMI and NOORMII) -based on a mix of CSP and PV technologies. The purpose of mixing the two technologies within the same plant is to: (i) reduce electricity generation costs by taking advantage of lower solar PV costs; (ii) generate electricity during the day using the PV and/or the CSP (daytime power generation could be exclusively PV-based); and (iii) generate electricity at night time using the CSP technology.
Beneficiaries
The main beneficiaries of the project are: the Moroccan State, MASEN, private sponsors, ONEE, productive sectors (industries, transport, agriculture, etc.) and especially the Moroccan population, more than 99% of which uses electricity. Hence, the project is inclusive in nature, and will contribute to improving the regularity and availability of power supply in all Moroccan homes. The project’s two plants project will be connected to the national power grid and will each have an estimated annual output of 943 GWh, amounting to a total of 1 886 GWh. Given that Morocco’s average per capita electricity consumption stood at approximately 900 kWh/year in 2015, the project’s two power plants will guarantee electricity supply for more than 2 million people, or nearly 6% of the total population. As far as the State is concerned, the project will help to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels (coal, gas and fuel oil) for its power generation, thereby improving its balance of payments.
Source: https://mapafrica.afdb.org/