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Prequalification has begun for the second phase of the giant Midelt solar project, part of the Noor programme managed by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen). The Midelt projects employ concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies to provide cheaper power during the day and meet peak demand.The first 800MW phase was awarded in May to a consortium of France’s EDF, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), and Green of Africa.

Royal Air Maroc’s daily flight from Casablanca to Conakry is packed as Guineans return home and business travellers arrive, including Moroccans meeting King Mohammed VI’s call to expand the kingdom’s commercial footprint south of the Sahara. The airline’s expansion to make Casablanca a major African transport hub is part of a wider strategy that has seen the big three Moroccan banks – Attijariwafa Bank, BMCE Bank of Africa and Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) – buying up African assets, phosphate giant OCP Group investing in Ethiopia and Nigeria, and plans for a gas pipeline linking Nigeria to the Mediterranean coast.

A consortium of EDF Renewables, Masdar and Morocco’s Green of Africa has been awarded a contract for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the Noor Midelt I project. Noor Midelt I will combine concentrated solar power and photovoltaic technologies, with an installed capacity of 800MW and a storage capacity of five hours.

French renewables developer InnoVent has taken its Oualidia wind plant to financial close and started construction despite having no long-term power purchase agreement. It has overcome the hurdles that have prevented many private sector projects developed under renewable energy law 13-09 from advancing by deploying secondhand equipment to keep down costs, and by crowdfunding part of the debt finance.According to data posted on the French crowdfunding website Lendosphere, InnoVent is already building the 35MW Oualidia wind plant (originally conceived as two 18MW plants).

AIM-listed Chariot Oil & Gas has been awarded the Lixus Offshore licence containing the Anchois gas discovery and further exploration potential close to the company’s existing onshore acreage.Chariot will operate the licence with a 75% stake, alongside Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines with 25%. The block covers an area of approximately 2,390km2 in northern Morocco, 30km north of Chariot’s existing acreage in water depths ranging from the shore to 850 metres.

The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) has issued a request for proposals (RfP) from contractors for the repowering of the Koudia Al Baida wind farm, which aims to increase capacity at the site to around 120MW from 50MW now. The Koudia Al Baida repowering project involves replacing the 83 existing Vestas V42-600 kW turbines and seven Enercon E40 turbines with new units with a rated power of 3-5MW so as to reach a total capacity of around 120MW while optimising the levelised cost of electricity.

The dispute over the management of Moroccan renewables developer Platinum Power has shifted into a new phase. A 21 March decision by the Casablanca Commercial Court allowing the company to continue trading means that it is now up to a wide group of stakeholders to chart a route out of its difficulties. Chief among these are the company’s creditors, but they also include the shareholders, judicial authorities and even the government.Platinum is developing the Tayaboui and Gao hydro projects in Côte d’Ivoire and the Makay hydro plant in Cameroon.

Ever keen to put a positive spin on developments, the Moroccan government is planning to create a national gas logistics company to make the state a key stakeholder in a new gas sector strategy, which is now planned for introduction “before 2030”. Energy, mines and sustainable development minister Abdelaziz Rabbah told Casablanca business monthly Economie Entreprises that this would promote public-private partnerships (PPPs) in major gas sector developments, adding that tenders were being prepared for advisers to draw up an appropriate PPP platform.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has continued its international expansion with agreements with Eni to take 25.5% in Block A5A in Mozambique’s Angoche Basin and 30% in the Tarfaya Offshore Shallow licence offshore Morocco.The Mozambique block is adjacent to ExxonMobil’s A5B, in which QP took 10% in December, along with stakes in Z5-C and Z5-D in the Zambezi Basin.In Morocco, Eni is performing geological and geophysical studies as part of the work programme for the first exploration period.

Spain and Morocco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a third power interconnector. The proposed 400kV line, with an expected technical capacity of 700MW, will export renewable energy into the European grid, mainly derived from Morocco’s solar power development plan, which in turn will reduce the marginal price of electricity in the Spanish market, according to a statement on 14 February by the Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE).

The struggle between the shareholders of Morocco’s Platinum Power for control of the company and its important portfolio of power projects in Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon is being played out in the kingdom’s commercial court, where the solvency of the venture and the validity of its governance are under scrutiny.On 19 February, Platinum chief executive Omar Belmamoun failed to attend a hearing at the Casablanca commercial court.

SDX Energy has expanded its activities in Morocco with the award of the Moulay Bouchta Ouest and Lalla Mimouna Sud licences in the Gharb Basin. The awards come as the company plans a 12-well exploration and development drilling programme, due to start in H2. The Moulay Bouchta Ouest exploration licence, which SDX will operate with a 75% working interest alongside Onhym with 25%, covers 458km2 and has an initial eight-year term. The area was previously held by Gulfsands Petroleum.

Moroccan renewables developer Platinum Power is facing an action for breach of contract in a court in Delaware from its main financial backer. Local media are now reporting that the company is close to bankruptcy and that staff have not been paid for months.Platinum is developing the Tayaboui and Gao hydro projects in Côte d’Ivoire and the Makay hydro plant in Cameroon.

Saudi authorities have released Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi after more than 14 months in detention, initially in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, in the corruption purge ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud. As with other business figures held in November 2017, Al-Amoudi seems to have engineered his release in a settlement process involving the transfer of cash and assets. “He paid and he paid a lot,” the Wall Street Journal quoted “a person familiar with Amoudi’s situation” saying.

Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE) has invited prequalification applications by 12 February for the construction, operation and maintenance of the Noor Atlas solar photovoltaic project, comprising seven plants with a total capacity of around 200MWp. The seven projects, with capacity of 20MWp-30MWp each, are being offered in two lots. The first lot seeks bids for projects in Ain Beni Mathar, Bouanane, Boudnib, Boulmane (Enjil) and Outat El Haj in eastern Morocco.