Morocco to launch 800-MW solar tender by 2017 - report

Morocco intends to kick off tenders for two solar power plants totalling 800 MW by the beginning of next year, the president of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) told Reuters on Monday.

Masen last month invited pre-qualification bids from parties interested in building and operating the two facilities near the central town of Midelt, each of up to 400 MW capacity, and expects the results in a few weeks, its president Mustapha Bakkoury has said.

The plan is to implement hybrid projects using both concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. The solar thermal power portion will have a gross capacity of 150 MW to 190 MW, Reuters said.

German state-owned bank KFW has already agreed to provide a EUR-710-million (USD 768m) loan for the projects and, according to Bakkoury, all the usual lenders such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will participate as well.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.081)

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