The "Abdelkhalek Torres" renamed to "Nassim" wind farm on Morocco's northern coast, is located on Africa's Northern most point, across the Strait of Gibraltar some 15 kilometers away from Europe's Southern tip.
With a rated capacity of 54 MW in operation since the year 2000, this facility, located next to the city of Tetouan, represents one of the oldest wind farm on the continent. It was for many years the largest private wind farm in an emerging economy. As this site is very productive, a repowering and extension program to 100 MW is currently underway.
Over 200 GWh/year of wind electricity are generated by 90 Wind Turbines of the 600 kW range. If this production was to be supplied by a coal-fired power plant, some 140.000 tons of carbon dioxide would have been released in the atmosphere.
As for the natural habitat, large corridors have been provided for migratory birds to pass through. Statistical surveys have now revealed that the impact of the wind turbines on the local environment has been negligible.
The "Amogdoul" 60 MW wind farm started operation on April 13th 2007. Amogdoul is the ancient name of the city of Essaouira next to which this wind farm is located, some 400 Km South of the city of Casablanca on Morocco's Atlantic coast.
Cape Sim near the wind farm, is one of Morocco's most Western Cape where Atlantic trade winds can be tapped on these Northern latitudes. Indeed, while located 600 km away North of the Saharan coastline, the Amogdoul wind farm enjoys the very same favorable trade wind conditions.
Located closer to Morocco's main urban load centers covered by a more robust grid network, the Amogdoul wind farm has a high productivity and generates some 210 GWh of electricity per year.
This leads to the reduction of 156.000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Configured with 71 individual 850 kW wind turbines, this wind farm benefits from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) support sources associated to environmental agreements from the Kyoto protocol.
Unveiled on June 28th 2010, the Tangier I wind farm "Dahr Saadane" has a capacity of 140 MW generated by 165 wind turbines of 850 kW each. Located on the Northern tip of Morocco, this wind farm, alike it's "Abdelkhalek Torres" predecessor listed above, takes advantage of the excellent wind conditions available on the Strait of Gibraltar.
Built with financial support from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the German KfW and the Spanish ICO, in a very favorable site, this wind farm is very productive generating around 510 GWh per year. In terms of environmental impact, the Dahr Saadane wind farm is fitted with low noise wind turbine blades and sited in specific locations as to preserve the migratory bird’s routes through the area.
The Dahr Saadane wind farm, which benefits from Kyoto protocol Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) support sources, contributes to mitigate over 380.000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. Launched during the unveiling of this wind farm, the 1000 MW Moroccan Wind Energy Initiative of the National electricity and drinking water office (ONEE), aims at establishing a local wind manufacturing industry. This program enables North Africa's industrial capabilities to be successfully demonstrated.
