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Rabat - HM King Mohammed VI chaired, on Monday at the Rabat royal palace, a working session to examine the progress of the implementation of the Moroccan solar plan NOOR, as well as means to enhance it in the future, said a statement by the Royal Office.

The session is part of the regular follow-up by HM the King of the plan's different stages since its launch on November 2, 2009 in Ouarzazate and the setting up of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN).

During this meeting, HM the King reiterated Morocco's will to ensure the durability of its economic and social development through an efficient, environment-friendly energy policy to shield future generations from economic and ecological threats.

Chairman of MASEN board of directors Mustapha Bakkoury gave a presentation on the progress of the first plant NOOR Ouarzazate 1 which is following its schedule after finishing the tender and funding stages. The first kilowatt-hours of NOOR Ouarzazate 1, which is a leading plant worldwide, will be injected in the national electric network as of August 2015.

Bakkoury also presented the program of carrying out the three power stations  NOOR Ouarzazate 2, NOOR Ouarzazate 3 and NOOR Ouarzazate 4, which will enable the finalization of the Ouarzazate solar complex with a capacity of 500 megawatts.

The presentation also touched on the selection of new sites for the future projects, to maintain goals set for the Moroccan solar plan, namely 2000 megawatts by 2020, that is 14% of Morocco's energy needs, given that the renewable energy share will be 42% of the overall electric consumption.

The selection of the new sites is carried out by virtue of the Solar Atlas of the Moroccan territory which was recently finalized and completed by a multidimensional analysis of the different regions. The chosen sites for the upcoming projects by the Moroccan solar plan are Midelt and Tata.

The sovereign gave on this occasion his orders to make the Moroccan solar plan a real lever for south-north and south-south cooperation through sharing green energy with European countries and institutional and operational cooperation with sub-Saharan African countries with solar potential.

The meeting was attended by head of government Abdelilah Benkirane, Advisors of HM the King Zoulikha Nasri, Fouad Ali Al Himma and Yassir Znagui, economy minister Mohamed Boussaid, energy minister Abdelkader Amara and head of water and power facility ONEE Ali Fassi Fihri.

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