Exploring Solar Energy Africa

So, why are we discussing Morocco in the context of renewable energy Africa? It is because it is one of the first countries to have received loan money from World Bank ($ 297 million) to construct Ouarzazate concentrated solar power (CSP). This solar energy Africa plant will be the largest in the world and be able to produce approximately 500-megawatt (MW) of electricity due to ample availability of sun in this region.

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So, what is Ouarzazate? Watch this video:

This is also going to be a test-run case for other Middle East-Northern African regarding the feasibility of alternative energy in these countries. This solar energy Africa plant was started in 2009 and the goal is to produce 2000 MW of solar energy by the year 2020.

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The World Bank is using the public-private partnership to enable the success of this renewable energy Africa project with the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN). The first phase loan will finance the construction of 160 MW of CSP, which will replace approximately 240,000 tons of CO2 emissions (or equivalent). The loan money comes from two sources: 1) $ 200 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (which lends directly to governments only); 2) Matching loan of $ 97 million Clean Technology Fund.

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This project could provide a road map for future collaboration for other regional initiatives among partners such as Mediterranean Solar Plan, Desertec Industry Initiative, Medgrid, and World Bank Arab World Initiative.

Various international agencies such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Investment Bank, the Agence Française de Développement, European Union Neighborhood Investment Facility, and Germany’s Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) are working with the World Bank and MASEN to help select private partner to carry out this solar energy project.

We believe that the support and active engagement of international agencies such as the World Bank through these loans sends a clear message about the development of renewable energy projects and make them sustainable and viable. However, we also wonder how these large-scale projects allow for the general public to engage and so an average person can also reap the economic benefits (in addition to environmental benefits).

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