Morocco’s l’Office National de l’Electricite et de l’Eau Potable (ONE) has prequalified invited companies for the contracts to build the M’dez and El-Menzel hydropower projects in Haut Sebou.

ONE prequalified six consortiums for the contract to build the 125MW El-Menzel plant and seven groups for the contract to build the 45MW M’Dez plant, both of which will be constructed at the Haut Sebou complex, which is located 45 kilometres south east of the city of Sefrou.

The six prequalifiers for the 125MW El-Menzel plant are:

• China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) (China)/Zhejiang Fuchunjiang Hydropower Equipment Company (China)
• Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti (Italy)/Alstom Brazil (France/Brazil)/Alstom Switzerland (France/Switzerland)
• Acciona Infraestructuras (Spain)/Andritz Hydro (Austria)/EMT (Morocco)
• Sinohydro (China)/Harbin Electric Machinery Company (China)
• Voith (Germany)/Societe Generale Des Travaux Du Maroc (SGTM) (Morocco)
• Dongfang Electric Machinery Company (China)/HydroChina Zhongnan (China)

The prequalifiers for the 45MW Mdez project are:

• Franco Tosi Meccanica (Italy)
• China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC)/Zhejiang Fuchunjiang Hydropower Equipment Company
• Cooperativa Muratori & Cementisti/Alstom Brazil/Alstom Switzerland
• Acciona Infraestructuras/Andritz Hydro/EMT
• Sinohydro/Harbin Electric Machinery Company
• Voith/Societe Generale Des Travaux Du Maroc (SGTM)
• Dongfang Electric Machinery Company/HydroChina Zhongnan

The M’dez – El-Menzel complex will form the centrepiece of the High Dam Sebou, which will have a capacity of 700 million cubic metres. The dam will provide protection for downstream areas and improve water control for the upper Sebou for irrigation development in the basin and the production of electrical energy.

The facilities at each component will consist of a power plant intake, headrace tunnel, access gallery, surge tank and 225kV substation. The complex is planned to contribute to the Haut Sebou development programme.

ONE has received a loan from the African Development Bank (AFDB) to go toward the construction of the plant. The complex is part of Morocco’s national strategy to reach the target of producing 42 per cent of the country’s electricity by renewable methods by 2020.

As part of the country’s ambitious renewables targets, the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) recently invited companies to submit prequalification entries for the next phases of the 500MW solar power complex planned for Ouarzazate in Morocco.