afrol News, 31 March - The state run Abu Dhabi National Energy Company has set aside US$2.5 billion investment into three electricity plants in Morocco and Tunisia in the next four years, the company manager has announced.

The Managing Director for North Africa and Middle East Majid Iraqui said the construction is expected to resume this year, but however said the commercial operations will commence in 2012 and 2013.

According to the statement, the company is looking at expanding its generating capacity at the industrial port of Jors Lassar in Morocco, among other global investments, in boosting power generation.

“Two of the investments will be made in Morocco and includes the upgrading of the Jore Lasfer power plant together with the Moroccan government and the construction of a 300-megawatt wind farm along Morocco’s Atlantic coast in cooperation with the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola Ingenieria Construccion,” the statement said.

The third project is a combined cycle gas power plant in Bizeerte, Tunisa, designed to generate 500 megawatts of electricity.

Earlier this month, Moroccan government announced it was earmarking investments of more than Dh90 billion ($10.29 billion) in the national energy sector by 2015 to expand electricity generation.

Morocco's electricity consumption is expected to increase by 7 to 8.5 percent per year in the next 10 years from 5 per cent average in the past five years, the national statistics have revealed.

TAQA is 75 percent-owned by the government of emirate Abu Dhabi, which controls over 90 percent of the oil reserves in the United Arab Emirates.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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