Morocco is going to play host to the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant which is being constructed at the edge of the Sahara desert.
Morocco is looking at the solar farm, to help generate renewable electricity which will power nearly half of the country by 2020.
The first phase of the project, called Noor 1which is a 160 MW power plant will be completed next month.
The project involves installing a complex of four linked solar plants (Noor 1 is the first) which will occupy a space as big as Morocco’s capital city, Rabat, and produce roughly 500 MW of electricity – enough to power one million homes.
Morocco imports almost 97 percent of its energy to meet its energy needs, as of 2013.
The CSP technology works by using 0.5 million crescent-shaped mirrors, in 8000 rows to concentrate the sun’s rays onto a liquid. The liquid, mixed with water, heats up to 393C and creates steam that can, in turn, power a generator.
This system can store power for when the sun goes down, making it able to generate power at night-time.
