Chinese enterprise builds world's largest single-unit solar power plant in Morocco

Power Construction Corporation of China, one of the country’s largest hydro and thermal power project providers, said on Wednesday via its WeChat account that it has completed the second phase of a solar plant with world’s largest single-unit capacity in Morocco.

“The phase II project was completed on Jan. 10. With this clean energy technology, Morocco is expected to grow from an energy-poor country to an energy-rich one. This project is the result of our sincerity and long-term dedication,” the company said.

The second phase of the project will have an installed capacity of 200 megawatts, and the whole solar plant will have a total installed capacity of 510 megawatts once it is completely finished.

Morocco gets long hours of sunlight a year, but as a country with poor fossil fuel reserves, it has to spend $6 billion on electricity imports per year.

The Noor Solar Complex will play a key role in Morocco’s ambitious solar energy development program, which aims to expand solar power to half of the country’s total power projects by 2030.

The project will satisfy the electricity need of over a million households, and cut 760,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

The project has created nearly 4,000 jobs for locals. A local construction worker, who has worked on the project for more than one year, said the Chinese workers have helped him to improve his skills. “By following them, I have not only mastered skills, but also gained new ones,” the young man said.

The project is also hailed by foreign experts as a great work, because it has created a longer industry chain. The Guardian said it will light up Africa’s path of clean energy development.

The State-owned enterprise signed an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for phases II-III of the project with the Moroccan government in 2015. EPC contracts are a common form of contracting in the construction industry.