Saudi utility giant Acwa Power is seeking to expand its investments in Morocco’s renewable energy sector and is also exploring opportunities in seawater desalination and green hydrogen, Omar Alaoui Mhamdi, the company’s country manager in Morocco, said in an interview with Asharq Bloomberg.
Khalladi Wind Farm: A Benchmark Project
The company’s flagship investment in Morocco is the Khalladi wind farm in the north of the country, with an installed capacity of nearly 120 megawatts generated by 40 wind turbines. The plant was Acwa’s first wind energy project globally and began operations in 2018.
Speaking during a site visit to the facility, located on Jbel Sendouq at an altitude of around 800 meters above sea level, Mhamdi said the plant generates approximately 375 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually — enough to meet the yearly power needs of around 400,000 people.
Expansion Plans
Acwa recently secured a new permit to increase the plant’s generating capacity by about 40 MW through an investment of roughly 550 million Moroccan dirhams ($60 million). Mhamdi said the expansion is expected to be completed within the next two years to meet rising demand from industrial customers.
The company considers the Khalladi facility a benchmark project both operationally and financially. The site’s actual availability rate reached approximately 99.05 percent last year, exceeding the contractual requirement of 97 percent and the budget target of 98.5 percent.
The project required an investment of around 1.8 billion dirhams and was financed through equity contributions and funding from a local and an international bank. Maintenance is handled by Acwa Operations, a subsidiary of the group.
Direct Power Purchase Agreements
Electricity generated by the plant is sold directly to Moroccan industrial companies in sectors including cement, textiles, and steel under long-term power purchase agreements. The arrangement is enabled by Morocco’s Law 13.09, which allows private-sector companies to generate electricity from renewable sources and sell it directly to customers without going through the state electricity and water utility.
With a total investment in the country amounting to around $3 billion, Acwa currently operates several clean-energy projects in Morocco, including the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, the Khalladi wind farm, and solar power plants in Laayoune and Boujdour.
Green Hydrogen Prospects
The Moroccan government selected Acwa in March last year as part of the first batch of green hydrogen investment projects, with negotiations still ongoing before land allocation and project implementation can proceed.
Mhamdi said: “The development of wind and solar energy remains a key focus for us in Morocco. We are also looking at seawater desalination projects and, in the future, green hydrogen,” adding that Morocco has significant renewable energy potential across its northern, central, and southern regions.
Acwa is the Middle East’s largest power generation and seawater desalination company. It has renewable energy and green hydrogen projects across 15 countries, with assets valued at $124.4 billion and total power generation capacity of 97.9 GW, including 52.2 GW from renewable sources.
