Morocco to switch on first phase of world's largest solar plant

[a7mos]

Morocco to switch on first phase of world's largest solar plant

Morocco’s king will switch on the first phase of a concentrated solar power plant on Thursday that will become the world’s largest when completed.

The power station on the edge of the Saharan desert will be the size of the country’s capital city by the time it is finished in 2018, and provide electricity for 1.1 million people.

Noor 1, the first section at the town of Ouarzazate, provides 160 megawatts (MW) of the ultimate 580MW capacity, helping Morocco to save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

“At around 2pm, the king will press a button, the parabolic mirrors will start turning, the heat will begin to turn the turbines and the plant will come to life,” said Maha el-Kadiri, a spokeswoman for Masen, Morocco’s renewable energy agency.


Morocco poised to become a solar superpower with launch of desert mega-project
 Read more
King Mohammed VI will then lay the foundations for Noor 2, the next stage of the solar complex. Noor 1 had been due to open in December but was delayed by unspecified “agenda concerns,” el-Kadiri said.

After it is switched on, the plant will initially provide 650,000 local people with solar electricity from dawn until three hours after sunset.

“It is a very, very significant project in Africa,” said Mafalda Duarte, the manager of Climate Investment Funds (CIF), which provided $435m (£300m) of the $9bn project’s funding. “Morocco is showing real leadership and bringing the cost of the technology down in the process.”

The north African country plans to generate 42% of its energy from renewables by 2020, with one-third of that total coming from solar, wind and hydropower apiece.

Morocco hopes to use the next UN climate change conference, which it hosts in November, as the springboard for an even more ambitious plan to source 52% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

“Between now and [the next conference], many projects will have come to light and we will prove that we can match our energy demands with renewables,” the country’s energy minister, Abdelkader Amara, said at a meeting during the Paris climate summit in December.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/04/morocco-to-switch-on-first-phase-of-worlds-largest-solar-plant

[BADecker]

Watch the 2005 movie, Sahara, and hope and pray.   

[salinizm]

Morocco to switch on first phase of world's largest solar plant

Morocco’s king will switch on the first phase of a concentrated solar power plant on Thursday that will become the world’s largest when completed.

The power station on the edge of the Saharan desert will be the size of the country’s capital city by the time it is finished in 2018, and provide electricity for 1.1 million people.

Noor 1, the first section at the town of Ouarzazate, provides 160 megawatts (MW) of the ultimate 580MW capacity, helping Morocco to save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

“At around 2pm, the king will press a button, the parabolic mirrors will start turning, the heat will begin to turn the turbines and the plant will come to life,” said Maha el-Kadiri, a spokeswoman for Masen, Morocco’s renewable energy agency.


Morocco poised to become a solar superpower with launch of desert mega-project
 Read more
King Mohammed VI will then lay the foundations for Noor 2, the next stage of the solar complex. Noor 1 had been due to open in December but was delayed by unspecified “agenda concerns,” el-Kadiri said.

After it is switched on, the plant will initially provide 650,000 local people with solar electricity from dawn until three hours after sunset.

“It is a very, very significant project in Africa,” said Mafalda Duarte, the manager of Climate Investment Funds (CIF), which provided $435m (£300m) of the $9bn project’s funding. “Morocco is showing real leadership and bringing the cost of the technology down in the process.”

The north African country plans to generate 42% of its energy from renewables by 2020, with one-third of that total coming from solar, wind and hydropower apiece.

Morocco hopes to use the next UN climate change conference, which it hosts in November, as the springboard for an even more ambitious plan to source 52% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

“Between now and [the next conference], many projects will have come to light and we will prove that we can match our energy demands with renewables,” the country’s energy minister, Abdelkader Amara, said at a meeting during the Paris climate summit in December.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/04/morocco-to-switch-on-first-phase-of-worlds-largest-solar-plant

if it happens, it will be very useful for our planet..

[xht]

Carbon credit money pays for it, That is money from energy bills on western utility bills. It is all about a few green insiders making millions off carbon tax money.

[criptix]

Carbon credit money pays for it, That is money from energy bills on western utility bills. It is all about a few green insiders making millions off carbon tax money.

So using renewables is a bad thing? 

[hugoworld]

Morocco to switch on first phase of world's largest solar plant

Morocco’s king will switch on the first phase of a concentrated solar power plant on Thursday that will become the world’s largest when completed.

The power station on the edge of the Saharan desert will be the size of the country’s capital city by the time it is finished in 2018, and provide electricity for 1.1 million people.

Noor 1, the first section at the town of Ouarzazate, provides 160 megawatts (MW) of the ultimate 580MW capacity, helping Morocco to save hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

“At around 2pm, the king will press a button, the parabolic mirrors will start turning, the heat will begin to turn the turbines and the plant will come to life,” said Maha el-Kadiri, a spokeswoman for Masen, Morocco’s renewable energy agency.


Morocco poised to become a solar superpower with launch of desert mega-project
 Read more
King Mohammed VI will then lay the foundations for Noor 2, the next stage of the solar complex. Noor 1 had been due to open in December but was delayed by unspecified “agenda concerns,” el-Kadiri said.

After it is switched on, the plant will initially provide 650,000 local people with solar electricity from dawn until three hours after sunset.

“It is a very, very significant project in Africa,” said Mafalda Duarte, the manager of Climate Investment Funds (CIF), which provided $435m (£300m) of the $9bn project’s funding. “Morocco is showing real leadership and bringing the cost of the technology down in the process.”

The north African country plans to generate 42% of its energy from renewables by 2020, with one-third of that total coming from solar, wind and hydropower apiece.

Morocco hopes to use the next UN climate change conference, which it hosts in November, as the springboard for an even more ambitious plan to source 52% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

“Between now and [the next conference], many projects will have come to light and we will prove that we can match our energy demands with renewables,” the country’s energy minister, Abdelkader Amara, said at a meeting during the Paris climate summit in December.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/04/morocco-to-switch-on-first-phase-of-worlds-largest-solar-plant

i happy to hear these environmentalist news around the world .. congrats to morrocco..

[fuathan]

This is the best news of this week for me... Hope it courages every country...

[eon89]

Finally something bigger. I remember reading somewhere that a solar panel field the size of Texas could provide electricity for the entire planet. It was time steps would be taken in this direction.

[mainpmf]

Carbon credit money pays for it, That is money from energy bills on western utility bills. It is all about a few green insiders making millions off carbon tax money.

THANK YOU!

I'm all for green development and sustainable energy! But this shit is nothing like green! It's an indredible waste of materials, it'l cost millions in reparations and it's absolutely not green at all!

Stop getting green washing guys! That shit is just a way for a few people to get a hellof money, nothing else.

[countryfree]

This is the best thing Morocco has ever done. It's a huge opportunity, but it's just just so easy with lots of very sunny empty land. A few companies are also making plans for huge cables to sell that electricity to Europe. One huge project was Desertec, Algeria could do the same thing too, and I hope it will.

[romero121]

This is one of the best implementation over the entire countries of the world. I believe following this most of the countries would try to implement their own solar plants for the greatness of the human survival for long years.

[mainpmf]

This is the best thing Morocco has ever done. It's a huge opportunity, but it's just just so easy with lots of very sunny empty land. A few companies are also making plans for huge cables to sell that electricity to Europe. One huge project was Desertec, Algeria could do the same thing too, and I hope it will.

This is one of the best implementation over the entire countries of the world. I believe following this most of the countries would try to implement their own solar plants for the greatness of the human survival for long years.

Guys you're both so wrong!!!

This is horrible! This is failure! This is just plain green washing and is nothing near ecological or sustainable ><

[bryant.coleman]

Solar power is one of the most expensive forms of energy in the world right now. And on top of that, the manufacturing of solar panels produce huge quantities of toxic waste. For me, solar energy is as bad as coal-powered energy or gas-powered energy. The most sustainable form of energy is the nuclear energy. If the waste is properly disposed off, then it is one of the cleanest forms of electricity available.

[Racey]

Carbon credit money pays for it, That is money from energy bills on western utility bills. It is all about a few green insiders making millions off carbon tax money.

  and this energy free from the sun, do the people of Morocco have to pay for this?

If so this is wrong, why not all the people (excluding robbing backers) get together, and build these types of solar energy systems for themselves?