Financing for a new 300-megawatt wind farm in Boujdour is moving ahead, with Attijariwafa bank and Banque Centrale Populaire providing loans for the project. The project, called Boujdour II, is being developed by Énergie Éolienne du Maroc (EEM), a subsidiary of Nareva. The total amount of financing has not been disclosed.
Ashurst Perkins Coie, which advised the two banks on the deal, said the wind farm will have more than 300MW of installed capacity. Nareva lists the project at 300MW.
Boujdour II will supply electricity to private industrial companies. They will buy the power through corporate power purchase agreements, known as PPAs.
The project is being developed under Law 13-09, which allows renewable-energy producers to sell electricity directly to private industrial customers.
EEM currently has 1,150MW of wind power capacity. Some 850MW is already operating, while another 300MW is under construction. The company produces about 3.3 terawatt-hours of electricity each year for industrial customers.
The first Boujdour wind farm, also with a capacity of 300MW, started commercial operations in 2023. It was part of an 850MW national wind programme involving partners including Enel Green Power.
That project cost an estimated 4bn dirhams ($375m) and produces about 1,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year. It is expected to prevent nearly 790,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Ouns Lemseffer, managing partner at Ashurst Perkins Coie in Casablanca, said: “We are proud to continue supporting the development of this unique platform, which constitutes a genuine driver for transforming the African market for renewable energy corporate PPAs.”
