OCP Green Energy has energized a 25 MW/125 MWh lithium iron phosphate battery system at its Benguerir mining site, Morocco's first large-scale BESS, connected to an existing 67 MW solar plant to shift solar output into peak demand hours.
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OCP Green Energy, the renewable energy subsidiary of OCP Group, has energized its first large-scale battery storage system at the Benguerir mining site in Morocco. The 25 MW/125 MWh system uses lithium iron phosphate technology that can store up to five hours of electricity which will be connected to the existing 67 MW solar plant at the same site.
The battery will store solar electricity during the day and release it when industrial demand peaks. This is expected to reduce the site's electricity costs during peak hours by 25%. The system can also support the grid through frequency regulation and reactive power management.
Batteries and associated conversion equipment were supplied and commissioned by Envision. Envision will also handle maintenance of the system for the next 25 years. The project cost around MAD 170 million and received $20 million in concessional financing from the Clean Technology Fund, a program administered by the African Development Bank.
The BESS follows the commissioning of OCP Green Energy's first solar phase, totaling 202 MW across three sites: Benguerir, Foum Tizi, and Oulad Farès in Khouribga. Those plants already supply OCP's industrial and mining operations with renewable electricity. Omar Kadir, General Manager of OCP Green Energy, described storage as a natural extension of the company's energy strategy, allowing it to reconcile variable renewable output with continuous industrial demand.
The company plans to expand its renewable portfolio to 1.2 GW by 2027, with more than 2 GWh of storage capacity, as part of a wider target of 5 GW of renewable capacity by 2027 and 13 GW by 2032.