The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted financial support to large complex to be built Ouarzazate in southern Morocco. This plant will produce about 160 MW of electricity per year in its first phase of operation and will quadruple this capacity when being at its full capacity.

The Ouarzazate project will be funded by a consortium of European public investors that have committed up to €345 million which represents around a half of the cost for the first phase of the project. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will contribute with €100 million and will triple this contribution as the project develops in further stages.

Once completed, the complex will be the largest in the world and will be an important vector of renewable energy production for Morocco. The project will also help to generate employment in the area and promote the development of an integrated local solar industry. The first operational phase will run until 2015 and is expected to represent a 110,000 tons reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per year.

This project is part of the development of the Mediterranean Solar Plan supported by the European Union that aims to create a renewable energy capacity of about 20 GW by 2020. Along with a major part of funding, the Bank also brings its expertise in managing this type of projects and infrastructures developments, especially in the field of renewable energy.