MENA Concentrating Solar Power Scale-Up Initiative

To increase energy security, strengthen regional integration and promote industrial growth and diversification, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia have joined together to expedite the deployment of concentrated solar power (CSP) and exploit the region’s vast solar energy resources.

These countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have developed and are now implementing an investment plan under the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) that aims to:

Deploy about 1 GW of generation capacity, amounting to about 15 percent of the projected global pipeline and a two-fold increase in the current global installed Concentrated Solar Thermal Power capacity.

Leverage more than USD 4.8 billion in public and private investments for CSP plants, thereby more than doubling current global investments in CSP.

Support associated transmission infrastructure in the Maghreb and Mashreq for domestic supply and exports. The plan is part of the Mediterranean grid enhancement that will enable the scale-up of CSP through market integration in the region.

This joint workshop, hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank Group, will review the status of projects under the MENA CSP investment plan and share knowledge and lessons from the recently-launched 120-160 MW CSP plant project at Ouarzazate, Morocco and CSP projects in countries outside of the MENA region.

Representatives of governments and electricity companies from these MENA countries will attend, as will other countries, key industry players and international financial institutions invited to share their experiences in CSP.

Keeping on track and communicating lessons learned are critical to the success of the MENA CSP Scale-Up Initiative whose proposed project pipeline is expected to avoid or reduce about 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide per year (at 24 percent CF) from the energy sectors of the countries involved. This would amount to around 1% of the total energy sector CO2 emissions and about half a percent of the total emissions from these countries. If the program is successful and replicated, the global benefits would be far larger.
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