Renewable energy generation in Morocco has received a boost with an investment from the EBRD, together with Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), in the Khalladi wind farm in the vicinity of Tangiers.
The 120 MW wind farm is the first private renewable project financed by the EBRD in Morocco. The Bank and BMCE are providing a financing package of €126 million in equal tranches to UPC Renewables SA. This funding will finance the construction, operation and maintenance of the wind farm contributing to Morocco’s target to develop 2,000 MW of wind capacity by 2020. In addition the renewable energy produced is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of over 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The Khalladi wind farm will also be one of the first private renewable energy projects in the country to be developed under a renewable energy law that allows private producers to sell electricity directly to clients connected to the high-voltage and medium-voltage grid; mainly industrial companies. It will also be the EBRD’s and BMCE’s first renewable project relying on commercial offtake agreements and not on any state support.
The wind farm is the inaugural project under the EBRD’s new US$ 250 million financing programme for renewable energy generation in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region. The EBRD loans under the programme are complemented by financing from the Global Environmental Fund and the Clean Technology Fund. In parallel, the EBRD continues to be actively engaged in policy dialogue with the Ministry of Energy to support further the gradual liberalisation of the power sector in Morocco.
