Morocco shortens solar plant list to four
OUARZAZATE, MOROCCO - Morocco has preselected four out of 19 consortia that presented bids to develop the first phase of a 500 megawatt solar energy project south of the country, the agency managing the project Masen said.
Masen named the four pre-selected consortia as:
• Abeinsa ICI, Abengoa Solar, Mitsui and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.
• Enel and ACS SCE
• International Company for Water and Power ACWA, Aries IS and TSK EE
• Orascom Construction Industries, Solar Millennium and Evonik Steag.
The pre-qualification process was to select independent power producers that would design, finance, build, operate and maintain a thermal solar plant in the southern city of Ouarzazate.
The 15 rejected consortia comprised among other firms GE Oil and Gas, Alstom Power, Mitsubishi Corp, SNC-Lavalin Inc., International Power, Lockheed Martin, JGC Corp, Daewoo Engineering and Nareva Holding, owned by a company in which the Moroccan royal family is the biggest shareholder.
Masen said it would send pre-qualified bidders requests for proposals toward the end of January 2011.
Plans call for the Ouarzazate unit to start off as a 125 megawatt unit and then undergo gradual upgrades to reach 500 MW before the end of 2015.
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