Climate Action 2016-2017

energy procurement agency. These should serve
as models not only for efficient procurement
leading to renewable energy at some of
the lowest costs in the world, but also for
capturing such vital supplementary objectives
as meaningful industrialisation, economic
development, value retention within the country,
and employment creation via the deployment
of this generation capacity. In simple terms,
both the models are achieving much more than
simply renewable megawatts, without impacting
the cost of the delivered energy. ACWA Power is
privileged to be involved in both.
In 2009 ACWA Power decided to broaden its
operations beyond its home in Saudi Arabia,
and evaluated a range of countries. Morocco
and South Africa scored very highly in the
ranking, because they fulfilled a number of
critical factors essential to support the large
investments required for plant construction
of this type, and the long tenor of such
investments. These factors include respect
for foreign investment, a good standard of
protection and governance for private sector
investment, a growing economy, a thriving
social environment and industrious people
with a work ethic. Delivering electricity reliably
and at the lowest possible cost relies on an
industrialised environment that enables the
building, operation and maintenance of the
plants at a competitive price.
Having recognised Morocco as an attractive
investment destination, we entered the
electricity sector in 2010. The first set of
projects that became available for participation
was the series of CSP technology solar
projects at Ouarzazate. Morocco’s NOOR 1 solar
plant, inaugurated in February 2016 by King
Mohammed VI, is the first of these projects and
is a part of what will be the world’s largest solar
complex when all four phases are completed.
"ACWA Power has
consistently delivered
tenders for providing
bulk capacity on longterm
contracts which
are typically 20 per cent
lower in cost."
Morocco’s NOOR 1 solar plant, inaugurated in February 2016 by King Mohammed VI.
The first phase of the complex is a parabolic
trough CSP plant with 160MW capacity and
three hours of thermal energy storage. This
thermal storage allows the plant to continue
generation after sunset and to satisfy demand
during not only the daytime peak hours but also
at night. The technology uses parabolic mirrors
to focus the sun’s light to heat up a liquid to
nearly 400°C, which is used to heat water and
generate steam. This steam drives a turbine to
generate electrical power.
The second phase of the project sees the
installation of a 200MW parabolic trough plant
with a storage capacity of 7 hours (Noor II), and
the construction of a 150MW solar tower with
a storage capacity of 8 hours (Noor III). Upon
completion, this complex will power more than
one million homes and will save one million
tonnes of oil equivalent, thus avoiding the
emission of 3.7 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The
project will form part of the country’s ambitious
solar energy programme in which Morocco
plans to develop several solar complexes with a
combined capacity of approximately 2GW by 2020.
The country currently depends on 95 per cent
imported energy.
In South Africa, the Bokpoort Concentrated
Solar Power (CSP) Project developed by a
consortium led by ACWA Power is a part of the
government’s Renewable Energy Independent
Power Producers’ Procurement Programme,
with the aim of augmenting power capacity,
attracting foreign direct investment and
creating jobs, while also stimulating the
country’s economy. This 50MW CSP plant with
nine hours of molten salt storage is not only
already operational, but is also demonstrating
the versatility and efficient dispatch of CSP
technology. Within the first month of its
commercial operation, the newly inaugurated
plant supplying over 200,000 households had
produced electricity using the heat of the sun
captured during daylight, for a continuous
period of 161 hours, equivalent to almost six
days, day and night – a new African record.
By utilising this model, and relentlessly
focusing on a mission to reliably provide
electricity and desalinated water at the lowest
possible cost, ACWA Power has consistently
delivered tenders for providing bulk capacity
on long-term contracts which are typically 20
per cent lower in cost than the next competitor,
regardless of country or size of project. More
meaningfully, ACWA Power also focuses on
contributing to the social and economic
development of the country by maximising
local content, industrialisation and employment
creation; and by local community development
through the deployment of renewable energy
plants and the delivery of renewable energy.
Paddy Padmanathan is President and CEO
of ACWA Power. A professional Civil Engineer
with over 30 years of experience, he has served
ACWA Power from 2005 as the company grew
from a startup to where it is today. A graduate
of the University of Manchester, UK, Mr
Padmanathan started his career as a consulting
engineer delivering infrastructure projects and
moved on to develop privately financed power,
water and waste water projects. A substantial
period of his career before ACWA Power was
with Black & Veatch, where he served as a Vice
President and Corporate officer. He also serves
on the board of directors of several companies
all operating in the water and power sectors.
ACWA Power (www.acwapower.com) is proud
to be a leading developer, owner and operator
of renewable energy in emerging markets, with
a portfolio of over 1GW in either operation or
construction, and with a pipeline of another
1GW to deploy. This contributes to achieving the
commitments made by the 200 nations at COP21.
ENERGY
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