Noor Ouarzazate concentrated solar power complex
Complejo termosolar Noor de Uarzazate
- Date
- 2016 · confidence high
- Place
- Ouarzazate, Drâa-Tafilalet, Morocco
- Credited to
- Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) and a consortium led by ACWA Power
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A complex of concentrated solar plants with molten-salt storage that keeps generating electricity after sunset, with around 580 MW. Noor I entered service in 2016; the central tower plant Noor III, of 150 MW, in 2018.
The complex is one of the largest of its type in the world; exact capacity depends on the phases, and storage (3 to 7.5 hours) varies by plant. Concentrated solar technology was not invented here.
What it led to
- integration of solar power with storage in a Maghreb country
- the Moroccan renewables plan and electricity exports to Europe
- cost reduction in concentrated solar technology