Major breakdown at the Ouarzazate solar power plant: $47 million lost

"We are facing an unscheduled interruption of the operations of the Noor III plant due to a major technical failure," Acwa Power informs in a statement, adding that the 150-megawatt plant will be forced to remain inactive until November 2024. This breakdown, which costs Acwa Power $47 million, is due to a leak in the hot molten salt tank, the renewable energy company specifies. It assures that it will take measures to resolve the storage problem. These measures include repairing the tank and possibly building a new one.

This is not the first time that technical problems and storage failures have been reported at the concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. Technical problems interrupted all production for a year from the summer of 2021, two sources told Reuters in February. These problems have also led the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) to recommend in a 2020 report to completely abandon CSP due to its high cost compared to photovoltaic and wind power.

The first solar power plant using tower solar technology, with dry cooling in Morocco, Noor Ouarzazate III was commissioned in October and December 2018. It covers an area of 582 hectares. On behalf of the Chinese Sepco III, Prominox designed the six heat storage tanks necessary for the production of electricity for Acwa Power.