The glowing Noor solar station is located 20 kilometers from Ouarzazate. It is a symbol of Morocco's new renewable energy strategy. Noor covers more than 2,000 hectares, which is one of the world’s largest solar stations, along with Solar Star in California.
Many countries, national and foreign investors, have expressed interest in this project. Noor Ouarzazate, which is already impressive in terms of size and efficiency, will soon double in size. It has inspired other stations of this kind in the Kingdom.
Solar energy, tomorrow’s energy
Half a million mirrors and solar panels are arranged in perfect order around a majestic solar tower in the middle of a Martian-like landscape. It is indeed an ambitious and highly productive project.
MASEN, the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy, is piloting the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Station, which was inaugurated by HM King Mohammed VI in 2016. Noor Ouarzazate has a total capacity of 582MW per year, enough to power a of 1.5-million residents. The site was chosen because it receives sunlight 320 days out of the year. The panels are built to move in harmony with the sun’s movements, just like sunflowers!
Morocco plans to raise the share of renewable energy to the national energy production to 42% in 2020 and 52% by 2030.
A technological treasure
The station is divided into four parts, each of which employs a different technology:
The partnership led by the company “Acwa Power” includes the station’s design, service, and maintenance.
It is possible to visit the Noor solar power station by contacting MASEN via their website, www.masen.ma.
Following the success of the Noor power station in Ouarzazate, Morocco is continuing its drive to turn the country to renewable energy. The Noor Midelt solar plant, with a capacity of 800 MW, will be the largest. This mega-project is planned to have a total capacity of 1,600 MW, making it the world’s largest multi-technology solar complex.
Several other projects with the same name have either begun or are in the development stage. Noor Atlas, Noor Boujdour, Noor Laâyoune, Noor Tafilalet, and the Tangier photovoltaic stations are amongst them.
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