Biggest solar plant in the world starts generating
Noor 1, which will provide 160MW of the 580MW overall capacity, is set to help Morocco save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions annually, while the farm, based in the town of Ouarzazate on the edge of the Sahara desert, is hoped to supply 1.1 million people with electricity after its completion in 2018.
The project is expected to be as big as Rabat, the country’s capital, once it is finished, while the north African country aims to produce 42 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020, with solar, wind and hydropower each generating a third of the total figure.
Funding for the $9bn project has been provided by a number of firms, including Climate Investment Funds (CIF), German investment bank KfW, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank, with each organisation investing $435m (£302m), $1bn (£693m), $596m (£413m) and $400m (£277m) respectively.
Mafalda Duarte, manager of CIF, said: “It is a very, very significant project in Africa. Morocco is showing real leadership and bringing the cost of the technology down in the process.”
“Morocco knew their demand for electricity was growing at 7 per cent a year and that they were dependent on imports for 97 per cent of that energy. They had a vision to promote renewables at a time when oil prices were high and they undertook regulatory reforms, put institutions in place, and they have done a great job.”
Morocco, which is hosting the next UN climate change conference in November this year, plans to use the event as a catalyst for plans to produce over half of its energy from green sources by 2030, with Abdelkader Amara, Energy Minister for Morocco, stating at the Paris climate summit in December that by the time the country host the conference it will have made significant advances with many renewables projects.
