Morocco’s renewable energy agency Masen on Wednesday launched a tender for the third phase of a solar energy project in the Atlas Mountains.
The tender asks developers to submit prequalification documents by October 20 to finance, build and operate the 400 megawatt (MW) Noor Midelt III power plant using photovoltaic (PV) technology.
Masen has appointed a consortium led by EDF Renewables to develop the first phase of the project, Noor Midelt I, with an output of 800 MW, in 2019, combining photovoltaic technology and concentrating solar power (CSP) technology. .
Four years later, the first phase is still not complete, in part due to disagreements over CSP technology, sources say.
Last month, Masen announced that it had shortlisted six consortia to bid as developers for the project’s second phase, 400MW Noor Midelt II, a photovoltaic power plant with two-hour storage capacity.