Acwa Power awards contract for Moroccan solar plant

Dubai: Saudi-based power and water plant developer Acwa Power said Tuesday its Moroccan unit has awarded a Spanish consortium a contract to develop a 160-megawatt concentrated solar power, CSP, plant in south of the north African country.

Acwa Power Ouarzazate awarded the contract to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona SA, Sener and TSK, which will start working on the project immediately, the firm said in an emailed statement.

The independent power project, the world’s largest CSP plant, will start commercial operation in the second half of 2015, it said.

Acwa Power Ouarzazate is also owned by the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy, or Masen, Spain’s Aries and TSK. The plant is first project for Masen in a series of several planned developments at the Ouarzazate Solar Complex.

Middle East states have seen demand for electricity and water soar in recent years as governments boost investment in new industries and infrastructure to diversify their economies and to accommodate for growing populations.

Several countries in the region depend on foreign investors and debt funding to build and run their power plants and water desalination facilities under the so-called independent power and water project, or IWPP, model.