wiredInUSA July 2019

Image: Masdar

Solar collaboration

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) said its consortium, comprising EDF Renewables and Green of Africa, has been awarded the tender for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the Noor Midelt Phase One solar power plant. The 800MWplant will be located 20kmnorth of the town of Midelt in central Morocco, between the Middle and High Atlas Mountains. Construction on the project is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2019, with energy delivered to the grid in 2022. Noor Midelt Phase One is the third project collaboration between EDF Renewables and Masdar. EDF Renewables is a partner in Shua’a Energy 2, the joint venture led by Dubai Electricity Water Authority (DEWA) developing the 800MW third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar

Park in Dubai. The first 200MW stage was inaugurated in April 2018.

The two companies are also partners in the recently announced Dumat Al Jandal wind farm, which at 400MW will be Saudi Arabia’s first wind energy project, and the Middle East and North African (MENA) region’s largest. The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) said the project, which will have a total installed capacity of 800MW, is the world’s first advanced hybridization of concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said: “It is now cheaper to build renewable energy power plants than those based on fossil fuels, and this is increasingly evident in the region.”

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wiredInUSA - July 2019