American Renewable Energy Firm Exits Morocco, Abandons Wind Farm Projects

Specialized in the development and operation of renewable energy projects, the American group UPC Renewables arrived in Morocco in 2008. After more than a decade of operation, the company is about to leave.

According to Challenge.ma, the group is throwing in the towel after selling, to the highest bidder, its shares in the Khalladi wind farm, of which it was the main developer. This 120 MW project is considered by renewable energy sector specialists as one of the most successful electricity generation projects under Law 13-09.

The American-based group, currently based in Hong Kong, also had the ambition to develop two other wind farms, one in Dakhla and the other in Laâyoune, the same source said. Six years after the launch of the preliminary studies, the former majority shareholder of Acwa Power Khalladi has finally decided to terminate these two projects and to liquidate the UPC Renewables subsidiary in the South.

The departure of the American group can also be justified by the lack of visibility of its two projects in Laâyoune and Dakhla due to certain technical and financial difficulties.