Morocco postpones giant solar park inauguration

Officials in Morocco are yet to give reasons why the inauguration of a giant solar park in Ouarzazate, was called off on Sunday. Noor -1, will become the largest solar plant in the world according to authorities.

It will harness the sun heat to melt salt, which is expected to retain the heat to power a steam turbine,to light the city at night.

“Whether you are an engineer or not, any passer-by is simply stunned by it. You have 35 soccer fields of huge parabolic mirrors pointed to the sky which are movable so they will track the Sun throughout the day.” said Paddy Padmanathan of ACWA Power, in an earlier interview.

Questioned by AFP , the communication agency which organized the inauguration on behalf of the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy ( Masen ) gave no explanation on what prompted the postponement.

With a production capacity of 160 megawatts of electricity , Noor -1 is supposed to allow Morocco to significantly reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases.

According to estimates from the Department of Energy , the complex will prevent the emission of 240,000 tons of CO2 per annum.