Platinum Power and a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) have formed a partnership to finance and build renewable energy projects across the African continent, beginning with a $300m, 108MW hydroelectric scheme in central Morocco, Reuters reports.
Platinum, which is minority-owned by New York-based private equity firm Brookstone Partners, signed the deal with China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC) in Beijing last week. In October last year, it was licensed by Morocco’s Ministry of Energy to build eight hydropower projects across the country.
The two companies said in a press statement that they "shared the same vision, in which renewable energy in general, and hydroelectric schemes in particular, form a durable and competitive solution to Africa’s energy needs".
Platinum is also developing a 365MW hydro plant at Makay in Cameroon and two projects with a total capacity of 300MW at Gao and Tayaboui in Ivory Coast, as well as the 325MW Cascade Ahencal project in Morocco.
CCCC is already present in Morocco, most notably at the 2,000ha Tanger Tech city (see Further reading).
By the end of last year, Morocco had installed 1.2GW of wind energy, 1.8GW of hydropower and 700MW of solar capacity, according to official figures.
Image: One they built earlier: the Allal Fassi dam on the Sebou River in northern Morocco (Loukili Fatima Zahra/CC BY-SA 3.0)
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