CTF allocates US$5.5 billion in investments for CSP in MENA region

The Clean Technology Fund (CTF) has given CSP development in the Middle East and North Africa regions a boost with the approval of financing of US$750 million, which will pave the way for an additional US$4.85 billion from other sources. The fund will provide investment in CSP programs for Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, with a planned 900MW of installed CSP plants by 2020.

CTF, a multi-donor trust fund, is an organisation that invests in deployment of low-carbon technologies. The investment will facilitate:

• Deployment of about 1GW of CSP generation capacity;
• The support of associated transmission infrastructure in the Maghreb and Mashreq regions for domestic supply and exports, scaling up CSP in the region;
• Encouragement of public and private investments for CSP power plants.

The investment will enable the construction of 11 commercial-scale power plants over a 3-5 year timeframe.

“This is a most strategic and significant initiative for MENA countries,” said Shamshad Akhtar, World Bank Regional Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa. “The initiative would leverage energy diversification, while promoting Euro-Mediterranean integration to the benefit of MENA countries that will be able to exploit one of the major untapped sources of energy. This endeavor is far-reaching with global objectives, implications, and potential impact. It will facilitate faster and greater diffusion of this technology in this region which holds significant potential for CSP.”