Morocco's Platinum Power partners with China's CFHEC on $300 mln hydropower project

RABAT (Reuters) - Renewable energy investor Platinum Power, minority-owned by U.S. private equity firm Brookstone Partners, has teamed up with China’s CFHEC to build a $300 million hydropower plant in central Morocco, it said on Wednesday.

CFHEC, which is a subsidiary of state-owned construction firm CCCC, will partner with the Moroccan group to finance, build and run the 108-megawatt plant, Platinum Power’s chief executive Omar Belmamoun said.

The two companies have also agreed to partner on renewable energy projects elsewhere in Africa, where they both see growing demand for clean energy, Platinum Power said in a statement.

Platinum Power is currently developing hydropower projects with a capacity of 325 MW in Morocco, 365 MW in Cameroon and 300 MW in Ivory Coast.

By the end of last year, Morocco had installed 1,215 MW of wind energy, 1,770 MW of hydropower and 700 MW of solar capacity, according to official figures.

Morocco plans to exceed a 52% share of renewable energy in the national energy mix by 2030.

(This story corrects erroneous reference to Brookstone Partners as parent of Platinum Power)