Technical overview
The Abdelmoumen scheme involves building two water reservoirs at different altitudes, and between the two, at a low point, a powerhouse comprising reversible pump-turbines.
The water stored in the upper reservoir will be released into a 3km waterway (comprising a penstock and tunnels), flowing 550m downhill towards the lower reservoir. The 350MW hydroelectric plant will be installed between the two reservoirs along the waterway. This reversible plant will generate electricity in turbine mode, and will pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir in pumping mode, thus generating renewable energy on demand. The system can be switched between pumping and turbine mode up to 20 times a day, depending on the amount of surplus electricity available or the needs of the Moroccan power grid. Excess energy is stored in the form of potential energy of water.
The civil works (undertaken by VINCI Construction Grands Projets) will be preceded by earthworks for the two reservoirs (carried out by VINCI Construction Terrassement), the creation of 14km of access roads, the excavation for the powerhouse embedded in the slope, and the installation of the 3km waterway, of which 1km is underground.
New roads will need to be built and others refurbished to provide access to the facilities for both the works and operational phase of the site.
