Wednesday opening of Morocco’s Noor Concentrated Solar Plant

This Wednesday, February 3, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI is officially launching the first phase of what will be the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world. Situated in in the south-central Moroccan town of Ouarzazate, this facility is projected to supply 1.1 million Moroccans with more than 500 megawatts of power by 2018, while reducing carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year. Construction of the first phase began in 2013, and will achieve 160 MW capacity. Noor is Morocco’s first utility-scale solar energy complex and a critical step of the Moroccan Solar Energy Program.

The three-phase construction of the facility is funded by $435 million in Climate Investment Funds (CIF) channeled through the African Development Bank and the World Bank. The US$8.1 billion Climate Investment Funds is the world’s largest multilateral climate finance vehicle, putting more dollars into climate finance than any other entity. It has produced results in 72 developing and emerging countries worldwide, transforming these countries into leaders in renewable energy, climate resilience, and forest protection.

Please let me know if you would like to interview Manager of the Climate Investment Funds Mafalda Duarte on Tuesday about the Noor facility and about other efforts to use CIF funding to bring down the costs of investments in concentrated solar power. Countries around the globe, assisted by CIF, are showing leadership in developing programs in renewable energy, climate resilience and forest protection.

The Noor facility could reduce Morocco’s energy independence, and create 200 jobs during the power plant operation and 1,600 jobs during power plant construction. Concentrated solar power uses mirrors 12 meters high to drive steam turbines or engines with energy from the sun to create electricity. It can provide reliable, large-scale power even when the sun is not shining.