Download full report Noor Ouarzazate I, a 160 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, is a path-breaking largescale CSP project, one of the first to be delivered in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, taking advantage of the region s abundant solar resources. Project Overview Noor Ouarzazate I is the first phase of a CSP complex exceeding 500 MW, also known as NOORo ( Noor is Arabic for light , the o stands for Ouarzazate). The CSP facility is located 10km outside the town of Ouarzazate in Morocco and approximately 200km south of Marrakech. Ouarzazate was chosen as the location of the solar complex because of the city s excellent solar resources, the availability of water for cooling, its accessibility for heavy equipment, and the proximity to the power grid. Noor Ouarzazate I was structured as a public-private partnership (PPP) on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis, with the ACWA Power consortium announced as preferred proponent in September 2012. The PPP was supported by a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and a Power Sales Agreement (PSA), plus a significant amount of concessional finance provided by the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and several International Financial Institutions (IFIs). The project would not have been a viable investment prospect without this concessional finance and the support of the Government of Morocco. The PPA is a 25-year fixed term, fixed tariff agreement between the ACWA Power consortium and the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN). The tariff in this PPA was determined by the bidding process i.e. the ACWA Power consortium was the bidder that proposed the lowest tariff. MASEN has also entered into a separate PSA with ONEE¹, the Office National de l Electricité et de l Eau Potable (National Office for Electricity and Potable Water), in which ONEE will buy all power from MASEN at a tariff approximately matching the grid price, and dispatch it from the plant. The difference between the tariff in the PPA and the price in the PSA will be covered by subsidies from the Government of Morocco and an operational support loan from the World Bank (via the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)). The ACWA Power consortium is responsible for project implementation, including design, construction, and performance optimisation of the plant. The construction period was 30 months (including a test period), with 25 years of operation. The project uses parabolic trough CSP technology, t
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