Morocco tenders for 400MW solar plant in Atlas Mountains

Source: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters

The tender asks developers to submit pre-qualification documents by 20 October to finance, build and operate the 400MW Noor Midelt III using photovoltaic (PV) technology.

Masen appointed a consortium led by EDF Renouvelables to develop the 800MW first phase of the project, Noor Midelt I, in 2019 combining PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) technology.

Four years later, the first phase is yet to be completed partly due to disagreements over CSP technology, sources say.

Shell to supply Morocco with LNG in 12-year deal

Ahmed Eljechtimi  17 Jul 2023

Last month, Masen announced it had pre-qualified six consortiums to bid as developers for the 400MW second phase of the project, Noor Midelt II, a PV plant with two-hour storage capacity.

Renewable energy represented 18% of actual electricity production in Morocco in 2022, with coal accounting for the rest. Renewables account for 40% of installed power capacity, which Morocco wants to raise to 52% by 2030.