Khalladi Wind Farm Starts Injecting Into High Voltage Network

Tangiers, 18/12/2017 (MAP) – The 120 MW Khalladi wind power plant, located in Jbel Sendouq (30 km from Tangiers), started injecting its first kWh into the high voltage network, the Acwa Power group announced.

The wind farm, developed by ACWA Power in collaboration with ARIF investment fund, represents an investment of MAD 1.7 billion dirhams, the group said in a statement.

The Khalladi wind power plant is the first ACWA Power project to be developed within the framework of the Law 13-09 on renewable energies. The law encourages the development of renewable sources in order to promote energy security and access, sustainable development, and integration of Morocco’s renewable energy production with other markets, it said.

ACWA Power is the second private company to succeed in the launching of a large wind farm within the framework of this law.

The project was financed under a long-term debt, mainly with the contribution of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in collaboration with the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and the Moroccan BMCE Bank of Africa. This is the first renewable energy project to be financed by the EBRD in Morocco, based only on contractual funding without any financial support, the same source added.

The plant will produce around 380 GWh annually, directly powering major industrial customers connected to the high voltage network. Power generation at the wind farm will be equivalent to the yearly average consumption of a city of 400,000 people. The plant consists of 40 wind turbines of 3 MW each, it said.