Africa’s oldest wind farm gets repowering treatment

The EBRD is providing a senior loan of up to €44 million, to the Koudia Al Baida Energy Company S.A., a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) and EDF Renewables. This is part of a senior debt provided by a group of international and Moroccan banks: Société Générale, Attijariwafa Bank, Banque Centrale Populaire and Bank of Africa.

Koudia Al Baida will repower the existing 50 MW wind farm located in the Tlat Taghramt region near Tangier and increase its capacity to 100 MW. The wind farm is the oldest utility-scale wind farm in Africa and Morocco’s first independent renewable power producer. It will also be the first wind-repowering project in Africa and for the Bank. The renewable energy generated by the new farm will lead to CO₂ emission reductions of approx. 300,000 tonnes per year.

Managing Director of the EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group Nandita Parshad said: “The EBRD is very proud to support MASEN and EDF Renewables in the repowering of the Koudia Al Baida wind farm. This project demonstrates the long-term opportunity for renewables to play an important role in the decarbonisation and increased competitiveness of Morocco’s economy. We at the EBRD are very pleased to be actively contributing to the scaling up of Morocco’s renewables together with MASEN, the Office National de l'Electricité, électrification rurale (ONEE) and all the key stakeholders.”