Acwa Power diversifies into wind power

In the middle of the mountains, Khalladi will produce enough energy to light up a city of 400,000 (Ph. Adam)

Acwa Power is a name that was previously linked to solar energy, with the Noor plant.The Saudi group is back today with its first wind power plant, Khalladi Park in Jbel Soundouq, a region very windy about thirty kilometers from Tangier A compact high capacity wind farm which required an investment of 1.8 billion DH.

"Challenge taken by teams largely Moroccan", as Paddy Padmanathan points out , Executive Director of Acwa Power, Khalladi Park is developing 120 MW over 40 laps on a 24-kilometer mountainous backbone, a feat enabled by the use of the latest-generation Vesta generators that can develop up to 3.5 MW each, a power lim for the time being at 3 MW to increase their availability, according to one of the park's engineers

The Vesta brand is also responsible for their operation and maintenance. This power allows Khalladi to be placed in the yard of large parks in the region and offer an annual production capacity of 380 GWh, able to satisfy the consumption of a city of 400,000 inhabitants. But Khalladi's customers are mostly industrialists, especially cement manufacturers.

Khalladi's clients include LafargeHolcim, Asment and Cimat for long-term power purchase agreements, and Snep for short-term contracts. Surplus production that can be delivered to ONEE. This way of proceeding is allowed by the law 13-09 which authorizes the private actors to build installations of production of energy from renewable sources and to market the energy produced with industrial customers.

The transport of the electricity is via ONEE's cables, which claim a "toll" tariff of 8 cents per kWh. Acwa Power does not intend to stop there. The group intends to launch in Morocco in another of its specialties, water desalination. He just responded a few weeks ago to the call for tenders launched by the government for the construction of a seawater desalination plant in Dakhla.

The Saudi giant also insists on the social impact of his strategic vision. "Whatever the country, this type of facility is often built in remote areas. Hence the strong will to accompany the project by social development actions ", insists the executive director of Acwa Power.

It is" all good "for the populations because the region will be soon opened up thanks to the future ones roads under construction. The group plans to take charge of the school transportation of douar children and set up fountains for water, a scarce resource.

Acwa Power also financed the purchase of a mobile dental unit which has helped treat more than 2,500 children. And last but not least, the Saudis have launched income-generating activities through the establishment of women's cooperatives and support for agricultural development of the area's crops. In total, the social budget, in the construction phase alone, exceeded 10 million DH.