$1.2 billion power plants deal in Morocco.

At a meeting at the Royal Palace in Fez yesterday, King Mohammed VI, along with Prince Moulay Rachid, and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, signed an agreement to build two additional electric units in Jorf Lasfar station, with a capacity of 350 megawatts each, The total cost is estimated to be around 10 billion dirhams (1.2 billion USD).

The convention was signed by the Director General of Morocco's electricity office (ONE), Ali Fassi Fihri, the Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Committee, Mohamed Ahmed Bouardi and Director of the Jorf Lasfar Energy company (JLEC/TAQA).

The agreement is part of the implementation of an equipment plan which seeks to secure the supply of Morocco's electricity.

The development of the plants within the framework of a public-private partnership is seen as the ideal solution regarding its advantages in terms the kilowatt-hour cost and the deadline of completion

Under the agreement, the JLEC/TAQA will be in charge of designing, financing, building and putting the two new units into service, in addition to the expansion of the existing coal dock and the maintenance of the whole project due to be operational by 2013.

The two parties will conclude a contract with a purchase guarantee by the ONE of the electricity that will be produced by the project. The contract which runs for 30 years falls within the framework of the electricity private production system.

JLEC is an arm of the Abu Dhabi's TAQA group, a leading company in the sector of energy. It currently runs fours units at Jorf Lasfar (Morocco's phosphate hub) with a capacity of 330 KW each.

Following the signing ceremony, the King, along with Prince Moulay Rachid, held talks with Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, before offering a luncheon in the honor of the Emirati guest.

The luncheon was attended by the Moroccan Prime Minister, Abbas El Fassi, by the Moroccan cabinet members and by the delegation accompanying the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.


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