OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsui & Co., Ltd., acting through Safi Energy Company. a project company jointly established with GDF SUEZ S.A. ("GDFS") and Nareva Holding S.A. ("Nareva"), has signed project finance agreements as of September 18, 2014 for the Safi coal-fired power project. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, several commercial banks (with loan insurance to be partially provided by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance), and the Islamic Development Bank will act as lenders.

The project, which is expected to cost USD 2.6 billion, consists in the construction of a 1,386MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant near the city of Safi in Southwest Morocco and the generation of electricity for 30 years following completion of the plant currently expected to be in 2018. A power purchase agreement with the Moroccan state-owned utility, l'Office National de l'Electricite et de l'Eau Potable has already concluded. The state of the art power plant will be the first in Africa to use ultra-supercritical technology, and will reduce its environmental footprint by achieving approximately 10% greater generating efficiency compared to conventional subcritical plants. Upon completion, the power plant will contribute to the economic development of Morocco, currently a net importer of electricity, by supplying around 20% of its total power demand.

Mitsui has operated in Morocco for over 30 years, and has been involved in major projects such a Sulfuric Acid plant for the national phosphates agency, l'Office Cherifien des Phosphates, the supply of Hitachi locomotives to the national railway operator, l'Office National des Chemins de Fer, as well as the Jorf Lasfar 2x350 MW coal-fired power plant. With the addition of the Safi project, Mitsui's net generating capacity will become approximately 9GW, including projects under construction. Mitsui continues to seek improvement of its generation portfolio by diversifying elements such as the geography and the fuel-mix, and aims to further expand its generation activities in regions with high growth potential such as Africa.