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| Description of company and purpose of project |
This Photovoltaic Market Transformation Initiative (PVMTI) subproject will involve funding for infrastructure expansion and working capital to enable the company to install solar home systems (SHS) under three parallel schemes;
- SPM’s in-house fee for service (FFS) scheme,
- contracts for 12,000 SHS under Office Nationale de l’Electricite’s FFS scheme and,
- a proposed credit scheme for SHS to be implemented by SPM in collaboration with multiple Moroccan financial institutions.
IFC will provide loan and grant funding to support the project.
This project is financed by the IFC/GEF Photovoltaic Market Transformation Initiative (PVMTI). The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has provided $30 million in concessional funds to IFC to support investments in private sector projects to encourage market development for photovoltaics (PV). PVMTI aims to address market barriers by making available appropriate financing and stimulating business activity, accelerating PV penetration to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases. By harnessing the innovation and discipline of the private sector in designing and implementing PV projects, IFC is helping to shift the design and financing of PV market activity to a more sustainable and replicable private sector context.
By investing PVMTI funds in the project, IFC intends to support the demonstration of a successful and replicable business model for the Moroccan, as well as other developing country PV markets. |
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| Project sponsor and major shareholders of project company |
| SPM is a leading Moroccan PV systems supplier and is headquartered in Rabat. The company is owned by Swiss Reinsurance Company (38%), Gaia Kapital Beteiligungs GmbH (32%), Dr Abdelhanine Benallou (16%) and Strategic Growth Portfolio (14%). |
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| Total project cost and proposed IFC investment |
| Total project cost is estimated at $3,473,000, with proposed IFC/GEF PVMTI loan and grant investment of $1,068,000 |
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| Location of project and description of site |
| The project will be managed out of SPM’s headquarters in Rabat and will be implemented through the company’s network of Sunlight Service Centres (SSC’s) initially in the north western regions of Taza, Sefrou, Taounate and El Khemisset and the central and southern regions of Essaouira, Safi and El Jadida. With time, the project may see expansion into further regions. |
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| Project Development Impact and IFC's Role |
| This project involves the funding of infrastructure expansion for the distribution of solar home systems for sustainable rural energy production. In addition the establishment of a credit business will bring financial institutions to the partnership. IFC’s role is key in engaging the financial institutions to expand this business beyond the limits of the program. |
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| Environmental and social issues - Category C |
This is a Category C project according to IFC’s environmental and social review procedure. No further environmental review is therefore required. At present, there is no national environmental policy on battery recycling. However, recently a plant has been established in Casablanca to recycle lead and plastic casings from SHS batteries. All used batteries generated by the project will be delivered for recycling at this plant. As part of the project, grant funding will be provided to set up facilities to ensure safe handling and pre-treatment of batteries at the plant.
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| To contact the project company, please write to: |
Ahmed Jahit
Villa N°6 Rue de Taineste,
Angle Rue d’Agadir
Hassan
Rabat
Phone N°: 212 37 66 10 32
Fax N°: 212 37 66 10 37 |
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