The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2012–2016
Morocco's Noor I tender produced the lowest CSP tariff ever at 18.9¢
MASEN's open tender for the 160 MW Ouarzazate plant drew four consortia; ACWA won at 18.9¢/kWh — a world record-low for CSP at the time.
MASEN · ACWA Power
the move
Morocco planned 2,000 MW of solar and 2,000 MW of wind by 2020 and started with a flagship: a 160 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant at Ouarzazate costing about $1 billion. Its agency MASEN ran an international tender rather than negotiating directly with a chosen developer.
Four consortia bid. MASEN selected the ACWA Power-led group, which offered 1.6187 Moroccan dirhams per kWh (about $0.1879) and met all technical and financial criteria; rivals included Abengoa with Mitsui and TAQA with Enel and ACS. At 18.9 US cents per kWh, the contract tariff was then the lowest ever selected for CSP technology.
The plant was financed by the World Bank, African Development Bank, EIB, AFD, KfW and Moroccan institutions under a 25-year PPA worth an estimated $1.1 billion. MASEN repeated the model for Noor II and Noor III, where the same consortium bid 15.7 cents per kWh — pushing the record lower — and the Ouarzazate complex grew past 500 MW.
why it works
- An open international tender made large consortia compete head-to-head on tariff.
- Multilateral financing removed payment and construction risk that would otherwise inflate bids.
- A 25-year PPA let the winner finance a capital-heavy first-of-kind plant.
- Repeat tenders created a benchmark, so each phase undercut the last.
what transfers
For first-of-kind infrastructure, do not negotiate one-on-one: run a clean tender, de-risk the offtake with development finance, and let consortia undercut each other on price.
what came after
Noor I became the centerpiece of Morocco's solar strategy and the template for the Noor Midelt complex; by demonstrating a bankable CSP tender, it helped push CSP prices worldwide toward parity with conventional power.
references
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