The national solar agency for COP22 host Morocco has issued the country’s first green bonds for renewable energy, Reuters has confirmed.
The bond issue by the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) is for three solar schemes that will form part of a 170 MW PV plant in the heart of the country called Noor PV 1, which is to be part of the wider Noor Power Station, which will be built predominately using concentrated solar power (CSP).
The issuance of the green bonds amounts to 1.15 billion dirhams ($118 million), and will fund the solar PV projects in Laayoune, Boujdour and Ouarzazate.
The World Bank also announced the purchase of $100 million in World Bank green bonds by the central bank of Morocco, Bank Al-Maghrib, which will be used for the bank’s reserves management.
The green bonds mature on December 15, 2019 and have a semi-annual fixed rate coupon payment. "We need a global financing system that’s fit for purpose to factor in climate risks and opportunities," said World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim. "Developing a green bond market is key to mobilizing the private capital flows needed to address climate change."
The governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, Abdellatif Jouahri, added: "Having become increasingly aware of the effects of climate change at the COP22 Marrakesh, countries are now specifying how to achieve commitments made [last year] in Paris. Bank Al-Maghrib’s investment in World Bank green bonds has been made in that context."
Morocco is hosting COP22 between November 7 – 18.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.