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Lenders inject USD 188 mn into OCP’s green investment program: The Moroccan state-owned fertilizer and phosphate company OCP Group is receiving a total of USD 188 mn in loans for desalination and renewable energy storage projects from the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and the Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund (CACF), Morocco World News reports.
Where’s the money going? AfDB and CACF will provide USD 150 mn and USD 18 mn respectively for the construction of three modular seawater desalinations plants with an annual capacity of 110 cubic meters (cbm). This initiative aims to provide autonomy for OCP’s industrial sites and supply 75 mn cbm of drinking water to over 1.5 mn people in Safi and El Jadida cities and their nearby areas.
Energy storage is part of it: CTF’s loan of USD 20 mn will fund energy storage systems generated by renewable resources to power the desalination plants and other projects.
Mining efforts included: Water produced from the plants will help make Morocco’s industrial and mining sites more self-sufficient using non-traditional water sources. OPC manages the entire value chain of its phosphate mines, and it’s mine locations include Khouribga, Benguerir and Youssoufia, and Boucraa.
OCP has a netzero target: The company launched a USD 12 bn five-year green investment program last year with the aim of expanding mining and fertilizer production capacity in tandem with achieving carbon neutrality by 2040. OCP plans to have all of its industrial facilities be powered by clean energy by 2027, including from wind, solar, hydroelectric, and cogeneration power. “Our sustainability goals aim to achieve 100% non-conventional water by 2024, 100% renewable energy by 2027, and self-sufficiency in green ammonia by 2032,” CFO Karim Lotfi Senhadji told Morocco World News.
Not the first time: OCP Group secured an initial USD 18.3 mn green concessional loan from the CACF back in November to expand its desalination efforts in Africa. The company inaugurated the first phase of its 35 mn cubic meters per year Safi desalination plant in Morocco last August. The plant’s output will serve OCP’s industrial needs and provide drinking water to the Safi and El Jadida neighborhoods, with the first phase set to produce 10 cubic meters annually.
