AfDB to help finance 800 MW of Moroccan solar

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Thursday announced it has approved a loan of USD 265 million (EUR 225m) to support 800 MW of solar projects in Morocco.

The financing will go for the Noor Midelt (NoorM) I and II projects, combining concentrated solar power (CSP) with photovoltaics (PV). The total investment in the public-private partnership (PPP) projects amounts to EUR 2.05 billion (USD 1.74bn).

The AfDB said in the same press release that it will also provide financing for a 44-MW hydropower project on the Bandama River in Cote d’Ivoire. It will lend approximately USD 59 million to the Singrobo-Ahouaty project.

Both projects are in line with the New Deal on Energy for Africa initiative, whose goal is to achieve universal access to energy in Africa by 2025. In 2017 alone, deals by AfDB will support 1.4 GW of new renewables capacity in Africa, it noted.

In October, the bank’s first “Light Up and Power Africa” theme bond of SEK 733 million (USD 86.4m/EUR 73.4m) was issued and sold to Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.85)

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