Moroccan 500 MW solar project to receive EUR 500m loan from EIB - report

(ADPnews) - Nov 18, 2010 - The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a EUR-500-million (USD 677m) loan to Morocco for the installation of a 500-MW solar power facility in the southern parts of the country, local daily Asharq Al Awsat writes.

The solar power plant in Ouarzazate city will export part of the produced electricity to Europe.

EIB is negotiating additional financing for the project from the World Bank. The decision is to come by the end of December, the newspaper reported.

The request for proposal documents are soon to be ready and by the end of 2010 the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy is to start tender procedures for a developer and operator of the facility. Construction is seen to commence in the second half of 2011, with operations at the plant to kick off at the beginning of 2014.

At the same time, Asharq Al Awsat reported that Morocco has agreed to export green energy to France from its Beni Mathar solar power system located in the northeast part of the country.

In the coming 10 years, EIB intends to spend some EUR 20 billion on renewable energy projects in the Mediterranean, seeking to boost capacity by 20 GW.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.360)

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