Farming the Moroccan Sun

Welcome to the Sahara Desert. The largest hot desert in the world stretches over 3.6 million square miles and is infamous for its rolling sand dunes and vast stretches of nothingness. During the day, temperatures rise up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit before dropping to freezing at night. Oh, and everyday it is getting blasted by the sun with little to no cloud cover and hardly any rain.

So what do all these ingredients make? The perfect recipe for a solar farm. And it’s not just any farm either. The Noor Solar Complex located outside the Ouarzazate region in Morocco is the world’s largest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in the WORLD.

Right now, there are basically 2 types of solar plants: CSP and Photovoltaic (PV).

While PV plants use regular solar panels to capture solar energy, CSP plants use mirrors and lens to reflect the sun’s energy into one spot.

Here’s how it works: sunlight beams on the mirrors, heating up a liquid, mixing it with water and reaching 752 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius). As the process goes on, steam is produced, and this steam is pumped to a turbine to produce electrical power.

So what about at night when the sun isn’t on? Well, the plant is designed so the first phase (Noor I) is loaded with molten salt storage capacity of 3 hours, and the Noor II and Noor III plants can keep reserve energy for 8 hours. 

Instead of burning coal to generate steam for power, Morocco has decided to blast that Sahara sun into this complex.

The CSP will deliver 580 mW of power, help reduce Morocco’s reliance on imported fossil fuels, and pave the way for future energy projects in Africa. The goal is to supply power to 1.1 million Moroccans and reduce carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year which could mean a reduction of 17.5 million tons of carbon emissions over 25 years.

The Noor CSP complex serves as an important benchmark in securing a sustainable future. With almost $2.5 billion in financing from the World Bank, Morocco has positioned itself as not only a leader in Africa but around the globe in developing clean, affordable energy.

The project highlights how strong policies developed by the government combined with investment capital can help reshape the future. Other countries located in similar climates can potentially make the jump to CSP for their energy needs.

Check out this video for more information!