Morocco is preparing to invite bids for the main contract packages part of its planned natural gas-to-power plant project, estimated to have a total value of $4.5bn, the country’s Energy Minister Aziz Rabbah has been quoted as saying in media reports.

The Office National de l'Electricité et de l'Eau Potable (ONEE) has undertaken the energy project, which is of strategic importance to Morocco, and is to be built in the Atlantic port of Jorf Lasfar.

Key features of the project are a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, a marine jetty, gas pipeline network and a combined cycle power plant with a capacity of 2,400 MW.

The main scope of work on the project is for building facilities that will have the capacity to import up to 7 billion cubic metres of gas by 2025, to feed the power plant for processing.

MEED earlier reported that ONEE  in March awarded a financial advisory services contract for the gas-to-power project to a UK-based joint venture of PwC and QED Gas Consulting.

Morocco, a net energy importer, aims to diversify fuel supplies and reduce its dependence on foreign oil and coal.

Jorf Lasfar, where the terminal will be built, is situated on the Atlantic coast near where the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) owns assets.