By Ahmed Eljechtimi
RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco’s water and electricity utility (ONEE) plans to build a 990-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant at a cost of 4.15 bln ($420 mln), bourse regulator AMMC said.
ONEE will fund 20% of the project, while the remaining 80% will come from loans by Morocco’s largest lender Attijariwafa Bank and Bank of Africa, in addition to funding by two securitization funds FT Nord Energy and FT Flexenergy, AMMC said in two recently published documents.
The plant, comprising two open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT), will use diesel as an emergency fuel, it said.
It will be built in northern Morocco on the Alwahda site near a pipeline that Morocco has been using since 2023 to import natural gas from Spanish terminals.
Morocco looks to gas to diversify its energy mix, as it also pushes ahead with its renewable energy plan aiming to reach 52% of total installed capacity before 2030, from 45% currently.
The country plans a natural gas terminal in the northeastern port of Nador West Med, to be connected to the same pipeline.
Morocco’s total installed energy production capacity stood at 11918 MW in 2024, dominated by coal.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
