Morocco lists bidders for Noor Midelt power plant project

The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) has unveiled a list of a list of prequalified bidders for a tender for the construction of the Noor Midelt 2 power plant.

The tender process which was launched in 2020 was part of Morocco’s Noor solar programme that was introduced back in 2009 with the goal of adding at least 2GW of solar PV across the country. This supports Morocco’s target of lifting the share of renewables in its installed power mix to 52% by 2030.

The list has 24 bidders including; Belgium-based International Power SA, Morocco-based Nareva Holding SA, Spanish group Cobra Instalaciones Y Servicios, Belgium-based International Power SA, Saudi energy company ACWA Power, S.A., a consortium of French energy giant EDF and UAE-based Masdar, and Italian energy company Enel with Taqa Morocco, a consortium of Spanish utility Iberdrola, China’s Dongfang Electric International Corp., and Morocco-based Gaia Project SARL.

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Noor solar plant

The Noor solar plant is a flagship project launched under the ambitious energy policy of the Moroccan Kingdom. It is located in the municipality of Ghessate, in the Southern province of Ouarzazate. Construction of the first phase of the project – Noor I – began in 2013, and reached completion in 2016. On 4th February 2016, King Mohammed VI chaired the commissioning ceremony at the first plant and officially launched the construction of phases II and III of the solar complex.

The 400MWp Noor PV II project spreads over six sites; Sidi Bennour (48MW), Kelaa sraghna (48MW), Taroudant (36MW), Bejaad (48MW), El Hajeb (36MW) and Ain Beni Mathar (184MW). While Noor I and Noor II use concentrated solar power (CSP) technology to generate electricity with the help of 12-meter-tall mobile parabolic mirrors, Noor III will introduce a technological variation of CSP technology, by using a solar tower. The fourth phase will use photovoltaic technology.