POWERCHINA's outstanding construction plan wins over Morocco market

POWERCHINA's subsidiary SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Co signed an EPC contract for the Morocco Jerada project on July 25, 2013, which was its first time to enter the French-speaking market. The company showcased China's strengths and responsibilities throughout the construction and completion of the project.

The 1×350MW supercritical coal-fired unit was the first of its kind in Morocco, which accelerated the local self-sufficiency in power generation and promoted economic development.

An overview of the supercritical coal-fired unit in Morocco. [Photo/POWERCHINA]

In addition, the Jerada project department helped create a large number of job opportunities, organized skills training for local workers, supported local social welfare institutions, and renovated the main roads as well as bridges in the area.

Since the project is the first that the owner has used loans from the Export-Import Bank of China, the owner had little understanding of China's relevant policies and specific financing plans. There were many difficulties in the financing process.

With the help of the project team, it took over one year for the owner to complete the financing agreement signing and loan processes. The considerate services laid a solid foundation for the cooperation.

Through the use of advanced technologies and efficient team execution, the installation of the project's boiler steel structure was completed in only two-plus months, passing all the quality tests at one time.

A photo of the building site of Morocco's coal-fired unit. [Photo/POWERCHINA]

The project was handed over and put into operation 13 days ahead of the contract period, which was an amazing speed compared with previous construction projects in Morocco.

The project received a total of 13,074 acceptance inspections with the passing rate of 100 percent, and several difficult and risky test items achieved one-time success. All the performance indexes met the demands of the contract, and some even exceeded them.

It received routine maintenance in May 2019, and by then, it had operated stably for 459 days. Its total operation time was up to 8,751 hours in the year 2018, and the unit availability rate reached 99.14 percent.

The handover ceremony of the Morocco Jerada project is held on Dec 18, 2017. [Photo/POWERCHINA]

On May 12, 2016, the owner ONEE and SEPCOIII signed a cooperative memorandum of understanding. On July 17, 2017, the two sides signed a long-term maintenance contract, which indicated the owner's acknowledgement of the Jerada project.