Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks visited the largest concentrated solar power complex in the world today - NOORo in Ouarzazate in Morocco. The German government is helping Morocco implement its energy strategy. The Moroccan government is aiming to have more than half of domestic electricity production come from renewable energy sources by 2030. The NOORo complex consists of parabolic troughs and solar towers.
Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks commented: "Sustainable solar power is an energy source that is available worldwide and to all nations. Morocco has tapped into this potential in Ouarzazate and has planned, and partially built, the world’s largest concentrated solar power complex. The NOORo complex in Ouarzazate is a landmark for the entire region."
Despite an abundance of solar radiation in this North African country, solar power has barely featured in electricity production in Morocco until now. The NOORo solar power complex ("Noor" is Arabic for "light" and "o" for Ouarzazate) is a beacon project for Morocco’s energy transition and, with a total planned installed capacity of 580 megawatts, the largest such complex in the world.
The complex consists of the concentrated solar power plants NOORo I to III. NOORo I and II are parabolic troughs, NOORo III is a solar tower. Starting operation of NOORo I at the beginning of 2016 was an important success for implementing Morocco’s solar power plan, which envisages an additional 2000 megawatts of installed solar power capacity by 2030. The German Environment and Development Ministries and the KfW are contributing to the investment costs for the NOORo solar power complex. The African and French Development banks, Morocco and private consortiums are also investing.