Morocco: Ciments du Maroc cancels Safi wind farm project

Ciments du Maroc, an Italcementi subsidiary, has abandoned plans to construct a wind farm at its Safi site on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, SeeNews Renewables reports. The company will instead explore the possibilities of buying in energy from local suppliers.

Commenting on the decision, CEO, Mario Bracci, said: "Today, different opportunities exist and a number of supply contracts are being offered to us."

Mr Bracci added that Ciments du Maroc was considering a deal with Nareva, an energy firm owned by SNI, the King of Morocco’s investment company. Nareva operates wind farms with about 500MW of installed capacity, but is also in the process of building a coal-fired power plant in Safi, due to come online in 2017.

Ciments du Maroc already operates a 1MW wind farm at its Laayoune site and began a 150kW solar power pilot project in Ait Baha in 2014. The Safi wind farm had been planned to have a capacity of 10MW.