Saudi ACWA Power opens $840 mln solar plant in Morocco

Saudi ACWA Power has launched its $840 million solar power facility in Ouarzazate, Morocco.

The power plant, called Noor I, has the capacity to generate 160 megawatt (MW) electricity, the company said in a statement.

The project forms part of the Moroccan Solar Energy Program, which aims to develop five solar complexes with a combined capacity of approximately 2 gigawatt (GW) by 2020 to meet the growing energy demand of the country.

The Noor project is developed on a built, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis by ACWA Power Ouarzazate, a consortium of ACWA Power, the Moroccan Agency for Solar, TSK and Aries.

The Riyadh-based privately-held ACWA Power is a developer and operator of a portfolio of plants in Europe, Asia and Africa. It recently opened a $328 million solar power plant in South Africa and took a majority stake in Jordan’s Sunrise Solar Energy Psc. which is developing a 50 megawatt solar plant in that country.