Kingdom of Morocco／Loan Insurance for Taza Wind Power Project

Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI; Chairman and CEO: Atsuo kuroda) has decided to provide insurance for loan extended to the Taza Wind Power Generation Project in the Kingdom of Morocco (“Morocco”).

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. has agreed with EDF Renouvelables S.A. to participate in the 87.21MW Wind Project, located near Taza, a city in northern Morocco, through a project company (PARC EOLIEN DE TAZA SA) newly established by these two companies. The project includes the operation and maintenance of the wind farm, and the electricity generated will be sold to Office National de L'Électricité et de l’Eau Potable (Moroccan public electricity and water company) over a 20-year period after the start of its operation.

The Moroccan government has set up a target of increasing the proportion of renewable energy use of the total amount of power generated to 52% by 2030, because Morocco is poor in domestic fossil fuel resources, and has high dependency on imports of such resources. This project is fit for the above-mentioned target, and is expected to contribute to the energy mix and reduction of environmental load that the government strives for.

This project is also in line with the Japanese government policies. In its “Export Strategy for Infrastructure Systems” revised in June 2019 (decided by the Economic Strategy Council), the Japanese government expressed its intention to actively support investments in renewable energy projects while responding to the needs of the host country, in order to lead global decarbonization efforts based on the Paris Agreement. The government is also calling for the promotion of the renewable energy businesses supported by the use of policy based finances. Japan’s collaborative policy towards Africa received the Moroccan government’s support at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (“TICAD7”) held in August 2019.

Of the total co-financing (approximately 113 million euros) procured by the project company, NEXI loan insurance will cover a financing portion (approximately 44 million euros) by two private financial institutions: MUFG Bank, Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The Japan Bank for International Corporation (“JBIC”) has also made decision to finance this project.

As Japan’s policy-based financial institution, NEXI will continue to actively support Japanese companies in the expansion of their business internationally and infrastructure development in African countries.

Contact: Power Group, Structured and Trade Finance Insurance Department
Tel: +81-(0)3-3512-7340