5 FROM FUEL-POOR TO RADIANT: MOROCCO’S ENERGY …
135
heading the construction of the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex, and
ACWA Power provided part of the capital investment. The company’s
bid on Noor I was 29% lower than the other bidders. 89 ACWA Power is
influential in the MENA region, operating in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman,
Jordan, and Turkey. 90 The company used Morocco as a testbed for CSP
to gain experience that could later be applied in Saudi Arabia.
More broadly, funds from oil-rich states in the Gulf have helped
Morocco—and Jordan—balance their budgets and maintain stability since
the Arab Spring in 2011. States in the Gulf are concerned about potential
Islamist influences in Morocco’s policy, particularly as the Islamist Justice
and Development Party (or PJD) became the main opposition political
party in 2002 and won parliamentary elections in 2011, resulting in the
king naming the party’s head, Abdelilah Benkirane, as prime minister.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait pledged to grant Morocco a total
of $5 billion between 2012 and 2018, although Saudi Arabia and UAE’s
grants have fallen short. (These funds were not specifically for energy
development.) Additionally, Masdar Clean Energy, an Emirati company,
helped Morocco to achieve universal access by deploying small solar and
battery systems to the few households that still lacked access in 2017.
In 2017, ACWA Power announced that its price for the new installation in Dubai would be $73/MWh. 91 However, there was conflict
between MASEN and ACWA Power over the cost of CSP in its NoorMidelt I CSP bid. 92 A consortium of EDF Renouvelables, Masdar, and
SENER apparently placed a lower bid and won. 93 Reportedly, they
bid $71/MWh, a few dollars less than ACWA Power’s publicized price
of $73/MWh. 94 Public funding has also been announced from the
World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund, KfW, the French Development
Agency, the European Investment Bank, and the African Development
Bank. 95
EU and Transnational Grid Integration
While the effects are difficult to quantify, EU energy policy has certainly
influenced Morocco’s renewable energy transition. The EU has agreed
to provide energy aid and technical assistance to the ‘Southern Mediterranean’ in exchange for regulatory and political reform. 96 Numerous
multilateral initiatives have focused on developing a common energy
policy between the north and south of the Mediterranean since
1995, e.g., the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the Euro-Mediterranean
135
heading the construction of the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex, and
ACWA Power provided part of the capital investment. The company’s
bid on Noor I was 29% lower than the other bidders. 89 ACWA Power is
influential in the MENA region, operating in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman,
Jordan, and Turkey. 90 The company used Morocco as a testbed for CSP
to gain experience that could later be applied in Saudi Arabia.
More broadly, funds from oil-rich states in the Gulf have helped
Morocco—and Jordan—balance their budgets and maintain stability since
the Arab Spring in 2011. States in the Gulf are concerned about potential
Islamist influences in Morocco’s policy, particularly as the Islamist Justice
and Development Party (or PJD) became the main opposition political
party in 2002 and won parliamentary elections in 2011, resulting in the
king naming the party’s head, Abdelilah Benkirane, as prime minister.
Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait pledged to grant Morocco a total
of $5 billion between 2012 and 2018, although Saudi Arabia and UAE’s
grants have fallen short. (These funds were not specifically for energy
development.) Additionally, Masdar Clean Energy, an Emirati company,
helped Morocco to achieve universal access by deploying small solar and
battery systems to the few households that still lacked access in 2017.
In 2017, ACWA Power announced that its price for the new installation in Dubai would be $73/MWh. 91 However, there was conflict
between MASEN and ACWA Power over the cost of CSP in its NoorMidelt I CSP bid. 92 A consortium of EDF Renouvelables, Masdar, and
SENER apparently placed a lower bid and won. 93 Reportedly, they
bid $71/MWh, a few dollars less than ACWA Power’s publicized price
of $73/MWh. 94 Public funding has also been announced from the
World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund, KfW, the French Development
Agency, the European Investment Bank, and the African Development
Bank. 95
EU and Transnational Grid Integration
While the effects are difficult to quantify, EU energy policy has certainly
influenced Morocco’s renewable energy transition. The EU has agreed
to provide energy aid and technical assistance to the ‘Southern Mediterranean’ in exchange for regulatory and political reform. 96 Numerous
multilateral initiatives have focused on developing a common energy
policy between the north and south of the Mediterranean since
1995, e.g., the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the Euro-Mediterranean