The three-plant Noor-Ouarzazate CSP complex expects to generate 580MW of energy, supplying power to 1.1 million Moroccans by 2018.
Power generated from the Noor 1 first phase of the solar farm is planned be sold at $0.19 per kilowatt/hour, reported Reuters.
Former US Ambassador to Morocco Edward Gabriel said: "Today’s launch in Ouarzazate means more and cleaner energy for Morocco, but also potentially for Africa."
The complex is being developed as part of the Moroccan Solar Energy Program, which aims to have 2GW of installed solar power capacity by 2020 in order to reduce its dependency on oil for power generation.
It will help the country reach its goal of producing 42% of power from renewable sources by 2020 and 52% by 2030.
The second phase of the project involves construction of the 200MW Noor II CSP plant and the 150MW Noor III CSP plant, while the third phase includes development of the Noor IV CSP plant.
ACWA Power Ouarzazate, a consortium of ACWA Power, the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen), Aries and TSK, is responsible for the development of the project on a build, own, operate and transfer basis.
A consortium led by NOMAC, a subsidiary of ACWA Power, and Masen will operate and maintain the complex.
At present, renewable energy accounts to 28% of Morocco’s total installed power generation capacity.
Image: Moroccan plans to have 2GW of installed solar power capacity by 2020. Photo: courtesy of worradmu/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
