Morocco is continuing to expand its solar energy
At the COP 22 KfW presents solutions for greater energy efficiency Parallel to the World Climate Conference in Morocco, KfW and the government of the North African country have signed a credit agreement for the expansion of the solar park in Ouarzazate. On the occasion of the signing of the contract, Federal Minister Gerd Mueller visited the solar power plant, a showcase project for North Africa. At KfW, KfW also presented its experience with the financing of energy efficiency measures for buildings.
In the presence of Development Minister Gerd Mueller, representatives of the Kingdom of Morocco and KfW agreed on the further expansion of the solar park in Ouarzazate. The desert town was previously known mainly as a film festival for “Lawrence of Arabia”. Now, however, the plants of the world’s largest solar park are being built in four stages. The total project volume is around 2.2 billion euros, of which KfW finances 829 million euros on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) A further EUR 60 million was secured by contract.
The solar park will supply up to 1.3 million people with electricity after its completion. Morocco saves the import of fossil fuels and thus foreign exchange through the use of the strong solar radiation. The benefit to the environment is to avoid at least 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The approximately 15,000 participants of the COP 22 in Marrakech debated how global emissions of pollutants can be reduced to limit global warming to a maximum of two degrees. After the first uncertainty caused by the election result in the USA, the conference again focused on the success of the Paris agreement. It is now a question of negotiating numerous details for the national contributions.
COP 22 Workshop of KfW
In addition to the meetings of the COP 22, numerous events take place in the framework program, one of which is organized by KfW. Department leader Stefan Zeeb leads through the workshop “Financing of energy efficiency in developing countries”. “Carbon dioxide emissions can be limited in a cost-effective manner by measures for energy efficiency,” said KfW climate expert Jochen Harnisch. “Energy efficiency also increases competitiveness and opens up opportunities for economic growth. Investments in this area also contribute to improving health and quality of life.”
Coastal protection in the Caribbean
Another German contribution to adapting to climate change is a project in the Caribbean, presented by Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the BMUB, at the COP 22 in the presence of the Environment Minister of Grenada. In ten Caribbean island states mangrove forests are afforested and coral reefs are repaired to protect the coasts from flooding and erosion. KfW had proposed this project for the International Climate Protection Initiative (IKI) and supported it by EUR 25 million on behalf of the BMUB. While many projects are planned for measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, adaptation projects have so far been less frequent. This will contribute to the goal of better protecting at least 20% of the coasts in the Caribbean by 2020.
