Acwa Power secures two co-located storage projects for 1,200 MWh in Morocco

Saudi-listed Acwa Power has been awarded the Noor Midelt II and Noor Midelt III solar projects in Morocco, following an international tender run by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN).

The two projects, located near the north Moroccan town of Midelt in the Atlas Mountains, each have a solar capacity of 400 MW and are both combined with 602 MWh of battery energy storage.

Acwa Power will be responsible for the design, funding, construction, operation and maintenance of the projects. Developed under a build-own-operate basis, each project is also backed by a 30-year power purchase agreement with MASEN expected to be the offtaker.

Marco Arcelli, Acwa Power CEO, said the company has now signed $3.5 billion worth of investments in Africa this year. 

Noor Midelt II and III are part of the wider Noor Midelt project, the first stage of which is an 800 MW complex consisting of both solar and concentrated solar power. It was awarded to a consortium of EDF, Masdar and Green of Africa in 2019.

Morocco’s cumulative solar capacity stood at 934 MW at the end of last year, according to figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

A report published by SolarPower Europe earlier this year said Morocco is on track to reach 3 GW of solar by 2028.