The project “solar drip irrigation Morocco” is a great success! On May 3rd the 6th tranche of the project was launched: again about 60 solar power systems will be built. 219 solar power systems for drip irrigation with a total output of 2.6 MWp and an investment volume of almost €2.3 million have already been successfully financed and built since the end of 2017.
The systems are leased to the farmers, who pay a monthly rent that is about the same as what they previously had to pay for diesel or butane gas. After 6 years the ownership of the plant is transferred to the farmers and from now on they produce electricity free of charge. The monthly payments are made on time and so far there has not been a single payment default! So far monthly payments are made in time and not a single payment has been default!
Operator of the solar installation is for the first 6 years Solar Future S.A.R.L., a joint venture between the Austrian-born managing director Erich Wörle, who manages the company, and the German Solar Future Maghreb GmbH & Co. KG, which collects the crowdfunding funds and forwards them to Morocco.
The project is supported by the climate protection organization Atmosfair since 2020. Atmosfair collects donations for CO2 reduction and invests them in projects that save CO2. All Atmosfair projects are certified according by the Gold Standard and the Gold Standard certification for our solar drip irrigation project has been successfully completed this year.
As part of the Gold Standard certification, a map of all solar power systems that Atmosfair helped build was also created. But are the plants really where they should be according to the map? A delegation from GreenVesting, Atmosfair and the German Solar Future Group was sent to Morocco to investigate this question in May. The team, led by Erich Wörle, started in Marrakesh, crossed the Atlas and visited a total of around 20 randomly selected facilities near the cities of Tinghir, Tinejdad, Errachidia and Boudnib on a round trip. The total distance covered was 1,200 km, which corresponded to around 22 hours of driving time.
In fact, all facilities could be found at the given coordinates, only one facility was located about 100 m away, which could be adjusted in the documentation. It was possible to speak to some of the farmers. They were pleased with the savings in fuel costs and the reduced labor for procurement and transport. After five days of driving, the group returned to Marrakech exhausted and satisfied.