The facility in the Sahara Desert will have a maximum installed capacity of 160MW and will involve an investment of about €500m (£400m).
The Moroccan government's solar energy agency Masen has selected a project led by Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power as preferred bidder for the first stage of the Ouarzazate Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) complex. The team is made up of a number of companies including Spain's TSK and Aires. The group of companies that will act as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor is the wholly-Spanish consortium made up of Acciona (37%), TSK and Sener. This consortium will be in charge of the building the new CSP plant and bringing it into service.
The CSP Complex will be located in a remote location near the city of Ouarzazate, at the edge of the Sahara Desert and among the foothills of the Atlas mountain range. The 500 million euro facility will have an installed capacity of 160MW and will make use of cylindrical-parabolic collector technology and a molten salts storage system capable of generating electricity even in the absence of sunlight. The plant's solar-capture technology base will be made in Spain.
It is expected to take 28 months to build the CSP plant and bring it into service.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
