Masen named the four preselected consortia as:
– Abeinsa ICI, Abengoa Solar, Mitsui and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.
– Enel and ACS SCE
– International Company for Water and Power (ACWA), Aries IS and TSK EE
– Orascom Construction Industries, Solar Millennium and Evonik Steag
The prequalification process was to select independent power producers that would design, finance, build, operate and maintain a thermal solar plant in the southern city of Ouarzazate.
The 15 rejected consortia comprised among other firms GE Oil and Gas, Alstom Power, Mitsubishi Corp, SNC-Lavalin Inc., International Power, Lockheed Martin, JGC Corp, Daewoo Engineering and Nareva Holding, owned by a company in which the Moroccan royal family is the biggest shareholder.
Masen said it would send pre-qualified bidders requests for proposals toward the end of January 2011.
Plans call for the Ouarzazate unit to start off as a 125 megawatt unit and then undergo gradual upgrades to reach 500 MW before the end of 2015.
