DESERTEC signs MOU with Morocco

DESERTEC which is a non-profit foundation for the promotion of renewable energy development in areas of abundant renewable energy, has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan government Agency for the Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficency (ADEREE) to consolidate the partnership between the two enetities. DESERTEC will be supporting ADEREE in its strategy and in the exchange of know-how, expertise and policy development. The MOU was signed in October 2012.


Morocco, which imports most of its energy supply, plans to supply 42% of its energy requirments from renewable energy and reduce overall demand by 12% by 2020.

Saudi investing abroad in Solar Energy

Although, this blog is meant to focus on the Middle East Renewable Energy developments, there is a recent Solar project from Morocco that has some relevance.

It was recently announced that Morocco’s solar energy agency has selected a consortium led by Saudi International Company for Water and Power (ACWA) to build a 160-megawatt concentrated solar power plant in the south of the country.

The Morocco state Solar Energy Agency (Masen), made the announcement at a press conference. ACWA has teamed up with Spanish engineering firm Aries IS and TSK EE for the design, finance, construction, operation and maintenance of the plant near the southern city of Ouarzazate.

In 2009, Morocco announced a $9 billion project to build five solar plants to harness the sun’s rays and produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.

It is very interesting to see a Saudi developer investing in Solar projects outside of Saudi Arabia and the GCC. This signals the higher focus and attention Solar energy is getting in the GCC countries and we can see the local developers gearing up to capitalize on the rise of Solar energy.