* Contract is for 160 MW solar plant, worth minimum $500 mln
* Enel, Mitsui and UAE's Taqa vied for deal
(Adds quote, background)
RABAT, June 13 (Reuters) - A consortium led by Saudi
International Company for Water and Power (ACWA) is close to win
a contract worth at least $500 million to build a 160-megawatt
concentrated solar power plant south of Morocco, an official
source said on Wednesday.
"We are going to opt for the offer made by the consortium of
Acwa," the source, familiar with the discussions about the
contract, told Reuters. The source asked not to be named pending
an official announcement due later this week.
Acwa has teamed up with Spanish engineering firm Aries IS
and TSK EE for the design, finance, construction, operation and
maintenance of the plant near the southern city of Ouarzazate.
"(Morocco's solar energy agency) Masen will make the
announcement over the weekend, either Friday or Thursday. The
signing ceremony will be on Saturday," said the source.
The announcement of the deal will coincide with the expected
landing in Ouarzazate of solar energy plane Solar Impulse, which
took off from Rabat on Wednesday after it completed last week
the world's first intercontinental flight powered by the sun.
Officials at Masen were not immediately available for
comment.
In addition to the Acwa-led consortium, two other groups
have been involved in the final selection processes for the
contract. They are:
- Abeinsa ICI, Abengoa Solar, Mitsui and Abu Dhabi
National Energy Co.
- Enel and ACS SCE.
The contract for the 160-megawatt plant will be the first to
be awarded by Masen under the so-called Moroccan Solar Plan that
aims to attract investments worth $9 billion to produce 2 GW of
solar power by 2020, which corresponds to 38 percent of the
country's current installed power generation capacity.
The plan will include five power stations, two of which are
located in the disputed Western Sahara, and the other in
Morocco, including Ouarzazate.
Facing an electricity demand that rises by an annual 7
percent and a gaping trade deficit from heavy reliance on fossil
fuel imports, Morocco also bets renewable energies would enable
it to export electricity to energy-hungry trade partner, the
European Union.
Last month, Masen's head Mustafa Bakkoury said the agency
hopes to complete a 500-megawatt solar energy complex in
Ouarzazate by 2015.
Masen will later launch tenders to build a 50-megawatt
photovoltaic module and CSP towers of at least 50 megawatts,
both of which are in Ouarzazate.
(Reporting By Souhail Karam; editing by James Jukwey)