Morocco’s Ouarzazate solar plant to bring energy to a million people

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Monday 23 Nov 2015 - 13:54 Makkah mean time-11-2-1437 Pic: BBC website Rabat (IINA) – The Saudi-built Ouarzazate solar thermal plant is part of Morocco's pledge to get 42 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020, BBC reported. The developers said phase one of the futuristic complex will bring energy to a million people. The solar thermal plant at Ouarzazate will harness the Sun's warmth to power a steam turbine in the evening. The first phase of the project will generate for three hours after dark, while the last stage aims to supply power 20 hours a day. The UN has praised Morocco for the level of its ambition. The Ouarzazate solar thermal plant will be one of the world's biggest when it is complete. The mirrors will cover the same area as the country's capital, Rabat. Paddy Padmanathan of Saudi-owned ACWA Power, which is running the thermal project, said: "Whether you are an engineer or not, any passer-by is simply stunned by it. "You have 35 soccer fields of huge parabolic mirrors pointed to the sky which are moveable so they will track the Sun throughout the day," he added. The complex stands on the edge of a gritty, flat, rust-red desert, is part of a vision from Morocco's King Mohammed VI to turn his country into a renewable energy powerhouse. AB/IINA