Morocco’s Draa-Tafilalet region, 10 kilometers from Ouarzazate, boasts the world’s largest solar power plant. Recently, the Noor Complex Solar Power Plant came into the spotlight it’s the newest plant. Placed online in January 2019, Noor III has already exceeded performance targets. The plant has a production capacity of 150 MW, can store energy for up to 8 hours, and is the world’s second plant to use liquid salt stockpiling. The project is supported with the help of Spain’s SENER and China’s SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation; in 2015 the European Union donated 465 million dirhams to Morocco to help finance the project.
The whole territory covers an area of 2,500 hectares and hosts two other plants, Noor I and Noor II; the power plant has a cooling reserve at the El Mansour Eddahbi Dam.
The project began in May 2013 and aims to produce 2000 MW by 2020; this will help to save 1 million tons of oil and cut CO2 emission by 5.3 million tons annually. The total cost of the project is estimated at $9 billion dollars.
The solar project is owned by Ouarzazate Solar Complex and supported by Spain’s SENER and China’s SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation; in 2015 the European Union donated 465 million dirhams to Morocco to help finance the project.
The solar plant was created with the concept of storing solar energy in the form of heated molten lava and transforming it into energy by night.