ACWA Power to Build 800 MW of Solar Projects in Morocco

ACWA Power, the Saudi-based renewable energy developer, has secured a contract to develop and operate two solar projects in Morocco. The Noor Midelt II and Noor Midelt III facilities together will provide 800 MW of power. 

The projects, each with a capacity of 400 MW will be integrated with a battery energy storage system (BESS). Together, these systems will store 602 MWh and can discharge up to 230 MW over two hours, according to reports.

These solar projects in Morocco will proceed under a Build–Own–Operate (BOO) model supported by a 30-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN). 

Originally, Noor Midelt II and III were intended as hybrid plants combining photovoltaic-concentrated solar power (PV-CSP) plants of 500 MW of capacity each. After project delays and a reassessment of national solar strategies, the CSP component was replaced with photovoltaic and battery storage. 

A similar shift was seen in the Noor Midelt Phase project, awarded in 2019 to EDF Renewables, Masdar, and Green of Africa, which was also an 800 MW PV-CSP hybrid and got dropped. These changes, recommended by Morocco’s Energy Ministry, were attributed to the higher costs and complexity associated with CSP integration. 

In March 2024, ACWA Power’s 150 MW Noor III CSP plant in Ouarzazate was temporarily taken offline following a molten salt hot tank leak, which interrupted its seven-hour thermal storage system. By April 2025, MASEN confirmed that the plant was back in service, once again contributing to the national renewable energy mix.

With the new solar projects in Morocco completed, ACWA Power will be operating seven projects in the country, leading to a total installed capacity of 765 MW, representing an investment of nearly SAR 12 billion (USD 3.2 billion).