Morocco: A Solar Power Gamble
Beaming in the desert, 10 kilometers away from the mountainous city of Ouarzazate, lies Noor, the world’s biggest solar power station. Spread across an area of some 30 square kilometers, the first-of-its kind complex is expected to generate 580MW and power more than 1 million homes when fully completed in 2017. The plant is part of a bold policy initiative envisioned by King Mohammed VI back in 2009 aimed at breaking Morocco’s reliance on energy imports and speeding up the pace of green energy development. The kingdom, North Africa’s only nation whose soil is completely barren of fossil fuels, spends upwards of $6 billion every year to import electricity from neighboring Spain. Noor is poised to change all that.
Jonathan Potts