Morocco Opens Bidding for Five Wind Power Projects Worth 850 Megawatts

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Morocco's state-owned power utility, ONE, has invited companies and consortia to submit expressions of interest for five wind energy projects with an aggregate capacity of 850 megawatts (MW). The tender will cover development and design, and finance the construction.

The deadline for letters of interest is March 2, 2012, and companies that pass this phase will be invited to bid in an international tender, which will be launched in the second quarter of 2012.

The tender will cover the development, design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of five wind turbine farms under a build-own-operate-transfer structure. The tender includes a separate procurement and maintenance contract for a 200-MW windfarm.

The wind projects will be executed under a private-public partnership with ONE, the Energy Investments Company and King Hassan Fund, which are all state-owned. Government studies show that the country has the potential to generate 25,000 MW of wind-sourced energy.

Morocco, as an energy importing country, is aiming to develop the renewable energy sector to provide for domestic demand, which is growing at 6% a year, and export surplus energy to Europe via Spain, where it already has power market trading licenses for the sale of electricity.

The country has launched major renewable energy development plans for solar and wind power. Five concentrated solar power stations, with an investment of $9 billion, will provide 38% of the country's installed power capacity by 2020. Wind and solar energy projects together should reduce Morocco's annual imports of fossil fuels by 2.5 million tons of oil equivalent, and mitigate 9 million tons of CO2 emissions.

For related information, see November 4, 2011, article - Morocco's Renewables Push Supported by Climate Funds, African Development Bank and November 15, 2011, article - Hybrid 1,000 Megawatt Wind and Solar Power Project for Morocco.

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