The snow-capped peaks of the Atlas Mountains punch a bright blue sky above the plains of Ouarzazate in Morocco and on any given day you might spot a famous actor hanging out at the latest “it” movie-making location—not Holly, Bolly or Nolly, but Ouallywood. The bright lights of tinsel-town glamor may soon be eclipsed by a far brighter light in the desert: the light of thousands of shining mirrors soaking up the sun's glare and transforming solar energy into electricity. A planned 500 megawatt concentrated solar power (CSP) plant at Ouarzazate is the first big piece of a greater vision for the expansion of this renewable energy technology across North Africa and the Middle East, a vision engaging Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and multiple global partners with names like Desertec and Medgrid. Clean fund supports region's solar potential The Clean Technology Fund has endorsed the Investment Plan for MENA CSP with a commitment of $750 million and the aim of mobilizing nearly $6 billion. Ouarzazate, planned in phases, will be one of the biggest CSP plants in the world but, perhaps more importantly, will begin to build the MENA region into a major global climate change mitigation player with the installation of over 1GW of CSP generation capacity in the next five years, doubling worldwide capacity. By 2020, capacity could reach 5GW, according to a progress report made to the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) Committee in November last year. The CTF is designed to finance transformational actions with global impact and MENA's unique geography makes it the perfect spot for more than picturesque movies. These are the factors in MENA's favor: abundant sunshine, low humidity and plenty of flat, unused land near to road networks and transmission grids; the fact that CSP is easy to integrate into conventional electricity systems and is relatively simple technology; and, that MENA is one of the fastest-growing electricity consumers in the world looking to scale up its supply, diversify away from hydrocarbons, and increase its energy security. Further, the region's existing industrial base and established business community make local CSP equipment manufacturing a good prospect. As this is a young industry, MENA should also benefit from a “first-mover” advantage as the industry scales up to meet Mediterranean Basin and Gulf Region opportunities in “green” electricity trade stimulated by the “decarbonization” of Europe.”As with any emerging industry there are risks and imponderables and some of this can still sound a little sci-fi in its complexity,” says Jonathan Walters, World Bank energy specialist. “But Morocco is leading the way with a real vision and other MENA countries are not far behind. The MENA region can shape the course of the global CSP market.” Morocco on groundbreaking path Different countries have different imperatives of course. Morocco imports 97% of its energy needs, currently dominated by coal. Its forward-looking energy policy, according to Walters, focuses on two key objectives: improving energy security while addressing climate change mitigation, but also ensuring energy access for all citizens and businesses at the lowest possible cost. The Ain Beni Mathar solar plant is an early pilot in eastern Morocco that is already supplying electricity to the grid and offering lessons to the development of the Ouarzazate plan. “Morocco's clear intention is to rise to the challenge of commitments made under the Copenhagen Accord and the Union for the Mediterranean,” says Walters. “This ambitious push for both concessional financing and private investment is in essence a test of these commitments, and at the World Bank we are doing as much as we can to help Morocco with the mobilization of the funds needed.” The rest of the region, says Walters, is watching closely to see if Morocco succeeds on its groundbreaking path and comes up with the support to realize Ouarzazate, the real thing, not the Ouallywood version. ** This article is republished with permission from The World Bank Group. BM
