A 9.3-meter-long and 5.6-ton steel column was smoothly lifted into place at the construction site of the El Vada project in the Tangier Hossema region of Morocco, marking the official start of the installation of the power station crane steel structure. As a key project of China Moldova the Belt and Road capacity cooperation, this 990 MW H-class gas turbine power station has steadily shifted from civil engineering to equipment installation, which also marks an important breakthrough in China's power EPC strength in the high-end energy market in North Africa.

The project volume is considerable

On August 4, 2026, China Energy Engineering Southwest Institute led the EPC general contracting of the Morocco El Vada 2 × 495 MW gas turbine project and completed the lifting of the first steel column for the crane. The project plans to install two H-class open cycle gas generator units with a total installed capacity of 990 megawatts, accounting for 7% of the total capacity of Morocco's national power grid. The total investment is about 4.15 billion dirhams and 420 million US dollars. It is planned to be completed and put into commercial operation in August 2027. The project is located adjacent to the Spanish natural gas import pipeline that will be put into operation in Morocco in 2023. It is invested by the Moroccan National Electricity and Drinking Water Office, and Mitsubishi Power provides two M701JAC gas turbines. The units support hydrogen blending combustion and have excellent peak shaving and carbon reduction performance.

Steady progress in construction

This project is the first H-class gas turbine EPC general contracting benchmark project of China Energy Engineering and Southwest Institute in North Africa, with clear and orderly progress throughout the construction process. The pouring of the raft for Unit 1's gas turbine will be completed on November 23, 2025. The concrete construction for the generator platform will be completed in March 2026. In June 2026, the senior management of both parties will meet to finalize the details of the contract. The steel column hoisting project has officially entered the critical period of equipment installation. The entire unit uses natural gas as the main fuel and diesel as a backup, relying on the advantage of fast start stop to serve as a flexible peak shaving power source for the power grid, filling the intermittent gap in local new energy generation.

Market significance is profound

For a long time, the North African large-scale H-class gas turbine general contracting market has been monopolized by European, American, and Japanese companies. This time, Southwest Institute, together with China Energy Engineering International Group and Tianjin Electric Power Construction, landed the project as a general contractor, achieving a leapfrog upgrade from subcontracting to general contracting for Chinese enterprises. Keywords: Moroccan gas turbine power station, North African energy cooperation

H-class gas turbines belong to high-tech barrier equipment in the power industry, and smooth implementation will accumulate a core reputation for Chinese enterprises to deeply cultivate the African power market. At the same time, the centralized bidding and procurement of various auxiliary equipment, instruments, and electrical equipment for the project also opens up new export channels for domestic supporting equipment manufacturers in Africa, comprehensively consolidating the competitiveness of China's entire power industry chain in going global, and deeply safeguarding the implementation of Morocco's energy strategy of renewable energy accounting for 52% by 2030.Editor/Min Jing