Germany is financially supporting the construction of the first large-scale solar thermal power plant in Morocco. The Moroccan Solar Energy Agency and KfW Entwicklungsbank have signed a corresponding agreement. The power plant with parabolic trough collectors is planned to have an output of 160 MW. The storage capacities integrated in the design enable the operation to be continued up to three hours after sunset. Construction is earmarked to begin in 2012 and is scheduled to last around one year. The plant will be located in the town of Ouarzazate, which is situated on the northern edge of the Sahara.

As part of the IKI International Climate Protection Initiative, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety is contributing 15 million euros to the equity capital invested by the State Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy, which is acting as the project company. This funding is being supplied through KfW Entwicklungsbank. The German commitment is being carried out in coordination with further funding bodies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement and the European Commission. With this contribution, Germany has become one of Morocco’s most important bilateral partners in realising the Ouarzazate 1 solar power plant.

Morocco’s energy policy goals

Morocco is pursuing ambitious goals in developing renewable energy. The construction of solar thermal power plants at five different locations in the country is part of its solar power plan. Totalling 2,000 MW in capacity, they are scheduled to be completed by 2020. The natural conditions in North Africa are highly favourable for utilising solar energy. With around 2,600 kWh/m², the annual solar irradiation is approximately 30 per cent greater than in the best European locations. In combination with the simultaneously pursued development of wind energy, this would enable Morocco to meet around 28 per cent of its electricity supplies with renewable energy by the end of this decade. This development removes capacity bottlenecks caused by the increasing energy demand and the growing population. In addition, this will enable Morocco to reduce its import dependence on fossil fuels (currently around 97 per cent) and will improve the national CO₂ balance.

Ouarzazate 1 power plant

The power plant is located seven kilometres northeast of the town of Ouarzazate. A neighbouring reservoir can provide the cooling water needed for the solar thermal power plant. The Ouarzazate 1 power plant is scheduled to generate an annual electricity volume of 370,000 MWh after two operating years and save around 230,000 tonnes of CO₂. The planned power plant is the first plant earmarked for the solar power complex to be built at the site, which is intended to have a capacity of 500 MW when completed.

Export of proven technology

Parabolic trough collectors, which use long, reflective and parabolic-shaped troughs to track the sun by rotating along their longitudinal axes, collect sunlight and concentrate it by a factor of 80 onto a caustic line. Here, a steel tube with a selective coating acts as an absorber. Operating as a heat transfer medium, thermal oil circulates in this tube and can reach temperatures of around 400°. In order to prevent heat losses, the steel tube is enclosed in an evacuated glass tube. In parabolic trough power plants, hundreds of troughs are arranged in a collector array. A central building with the conventional power plant components is located in the centre of the plant. Thermal storage systems can also be integrated into the power plant. By utilising, for example, molten salt, these enable surplus heat collected during the day to be stored for the evening operation. The BINE-Projektinfo brochure Solar thermal power plants to become practice presents the various technologies used for solar thermal power plants.

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