Morocco harnesses the power of the sun

Ouarzazate, Morocco - The southern sun bakes down upon Morocco's 580-megawatt solar plant, in line to be the largest in the world upon its completion in 2018.

This $9bn plant, known as Noor - "light" in Arabic - positions Morocco as a global leader in sustainable energy development. Situated in a dry, rocky, rust-coloured plain 13km outside the southern city of Ouarzazate, the plant has contributed energy to the country's national power grid for the past year. Since the February 2016 inauguration of Noor I, the first of four phases, there have been many positive stories about the plant's great potential, power and beauty.   

"It's our showcase," Chkoukout Abdelkaht, a provincial tourism official, told Al Jazeera. "Ouarzazate became an international city because of the solar complex."

source: http://www.aljazeera.com