Nareva, Enel Green Power, Siemens consortium to develop 850 MW wind projects in Morocco

According to sources, Morocco's electricity and water agency ONEE has selected a preferred bidder in its 850MW wind farm tender. A consortium of local firm Nareva, Italy's Enel Green Power (EGP) and Germany's Siemens submitted the lowest bid and was chosen to develop the five wind projects.

The tender includes five projects: the 150 MW Tanger 2 in the northern part of the country, 300 MW at Tiskrad, Laayoune, 200 MW at Jbel Lahdid, Essaouira, 100 MW near Boujdour, and 100 MW at Midelt, some 400 km east of Casablanca. Commissioning of the tender projects is expected between 2017 and 2020.

The projects will be developed on a build, own, operate (BOO) basis through a public private partnership (PPP) model.

The proposed Boujdour project in Saharawi territory and the Tiskrad-Tarfaya scheme on the border of the Western Sahara are located in the disputed regions of the Western Sahara and financing could difficult to get for those projects.

A club of multilateral banks including the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, European Union and KfW may invest up to €385 million to finance the construction of the wind farms.

In September 2015, Morocco's electricity and water utility company (ONEE) shortlisted several teams for the projects:

• Acciona Energia and Acciona Wind Power,
• EDF Energies Nouvelles with Qatar Electricity and Water Company, Fipar Holding, and Alstom Wind
• International Company for Water and Power Project in cooperation with Gamesa Eolica Sl.
• Moroccan Nareva Holding, with Enel Green Power and Siemens Wind Power AS.
• UK's International Power PLC with International Power LTD (UAE) and Vestas France SAS.

The 850MW tender represents the second phase of Morocco's 1GW wind energy programme, and was first launched in 2012.

Morocco currently has an installed wind power capacity of 787 MW. Morocco is a regional leader in terms of installed wind power capacity, followed by Egypt with 650 MW and Tunisia with 240 MW.

The latest commissioned project was the 300 MW Tarfaya wind farm, which was developed by a 50/50 joint venture of Nareva Holding and International Power Ltd.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) recently closed financing for the 120 MW Khalladi wind farm in the vicinity of Tangiers, Morocco.