The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) are supporting the construction of the world's biggest solar power complex in the Ouarzazate region in Morocco with a loan of 654 million euros. The German Government is thus promoting international climate action and renewable energy expansion in Northern Africa.
On behalf of the BMUB and BMZ, the KfW banking group has signed loan agreements for the construction of two solar power plants, which will constitute core components of the world's largest complex of solar power plants in the Ouarzazate region in Morocco. Germany is providing development loans totalling 654 million euros for the construction of a solar tower power plant and a parabolic trough power plant. Both plants together will have an electrical output of 350 MW, which corresponds to the output of a medium-sized conventional power station.
Both solar power plants will use highly innovative technologies, some of which will be deployed for the first time in projects of this scale. This will help Morocco take a big step towards a climate-friendly and sustainable energy supply.
Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks commented: "Our support shows that Germany is taking its responsibility for the global climate seriously. The transformation of energy systems worldwide is the key to successful climate policy. For developing countries such as Morocco, which depend heavily on fossil energy sources and energy imports, the expansion of renewable energies is a prerequisite for sustainable development. With its ambitious solar plan, Morocco is setting an example for others in the region and beyond. We are delighted to be able to make an important contribution to supporting Morocco on this path and developing innovative climate technologies that show great promise for the future."
Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller stated: "The Ouarzazate solar power complex clearly demonstrates that economic and ecological goals are not mutually exclusive, but rather are both aspects of sustainable development. Protecting the climate and natural resources are key goals of our development activities. We support our partner countries in finding innovative and tailor-made solutions to secure their national energy supply. This is a very good example of how partnership and cooperation can contribute to the protection of global assets such as the climate. Promoting environmentally sound technologies in the energy sector will remain a key priority of our work in Northern Africa."
Germany is Morocco's most important partner for the implementation of these two projects. Other partners include the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the French Development Bank and the European Commission. The beneficiary of the loan is the Moroccon Agency for Solar Energy, MASEN, which will build the power plants based on a public-private partnership model.
The German funding is provided under the BMUB's International Climate Initiative and the BMZ's Initiative for Climate and Environmental Protection. The BMUB and BMZ are thus helping to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Once built, the Ouarzazate solar complex is expected to save approximately 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. At the same time, the project will significantly contribute to the implementation of Morocco's solar plan, which envisages the establishment of two Gigawatts of solar power by 2020. The first solar power plant in Ouarzazate is already under construction, also with support from the German Government. The BMUB and BMZ have made a total of 115 million euros available for this project.
In 2009, Morocco set itself the ambitious target of reaching a renewables' share of 42 percent in the country's electricity generation. To reach this target, two Gigawatts of solar, wind and hydropower capacity are to be built respectively by 2020. Ouarzazate could become the flagship project for other large solar power plants in the region, and also in other sunny parts of the world. The final solar complex will have an installed capacity of 570 Megawatts. The continuous development of concentrated solar power technology and the decreasing costs of this technology could play a central role in the transformation of energy systems worldwide.
Support for the development and expansion of Morocco's solar sector are part of the BMUB's International Climate Initiative (ICI), which has provided targeted support for climate and biodiversity projects in developing countries and countries in transition since 2008. So far, the ICI has helped launch more than 400 projects with a funding volume of over 1.5 billion euros. The total volume (including financing from other sources) is approximately four billion euros, making the ICI a key element of Germany's climate finance activities.
The KfW banking group established the Initiative for Climate and Environmental Protection (IKLU) on behalf of the BMZ in 2007. Between 2008 and 2011 the IKLU provided at least 2.4 billion euros in low-interest loans and grants for climate and environment-related investments in developing countries.