Morocco NOOR II & III CSP — Black Start Diesel Generators
Ouarzazate, Morocco — 6 Containerized Black Start Gensets
Project Overview
The NOOR II & III concentrated solar power plants at Ouarzazate in Morocco form part of a 510 MW solar complex in the Northern African desert: NOOR I (160 MW, parabolic trough, grid-connected in November 2015), NOOR II (200 MW, parabolic trough) and NOOR III (150 MW, tower). Concentrated solar power stores heat before it is converted, so the plant can deliver a stable output — and that makes the auxiliary and black start supply a fixed part of the plant design.
H&C supplied six containerized black start and emergency power stations for NOOR II & III: three R-M1775-M units built around the MTU 12V4000G23 engine with MXM-2000-4 alternators, and three R-M2248-M units built around the MTU 16V4000G23 engine with MXM-2240-4 alternators. The system provides black start power for the plant, emergency power for internal loads during a controlled shutdown, and security power while the plant operates normally.
Challenge & Requirements
A concentrated solar power plant cannot restart itself after a full outage. The solar field, the heat transfer systems and the turbine auxiliaries all depend on electrical supply, so the standby plant has to be able to energise the site from a dead state. It also has to hold internal loads while the plant is taken through a controlled shutdown, and stay available as security power while the plant runs normally. NOOR II and NOOR III were developed together and operated side by side, so the standby supply had to serve both plants as one system rather than as two independent installations.
Technical Specifications
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Generator Model | R-M1775-M (×3) + R-M2248-M (×3) |
| Rated Power (Standby) | spec pending |
| Rated Power (Prime) | N/A — Black Start / Emergency Duty |
| Engine | MTU 12V4000G23 / MTU 16V4000G23 |
| Alternator | MXM-2000-4 / MXM-2240-4 |
| Enclosure | Containerized power station |
Solution & Implementation
The standby plant was specified as containerized stations built on MTU 4000 Series engines, so each set arrives as a complete, outdoor-deployable unit instead of being assembled on site. Six stations were supplied: three R-M1775-M units with 12V4000G23 engines, and three R-M2248-M units with 16V4000G23 engines, matched with MXM-2000-4 and MXM-2240-4 alternators respectively.
The stations support automatic multi-unit paralleling of up to 32 sets, automatic grid connection, automatic fault detection and protection, and an international standard communication interface. They also provide interaction between the diesel generator (DG) system and the plant’s distributed control system (DCS), so the standby plant can be supervised and coordinated from the plant control room together with the main plant.
The scope covered both the equipment and the control concept, which keeps operation and maintenance work on site simple. Where a project has requirements outside the standard range, the design and development can be customised to suit.
Project Gallery
Support structure assembly at the NOOR II & III site
Foundation piles for the parabolic trough field
Trough collector structures on site
Project Results
The six containerized stations give NOOR II & III their black start capability: they energise the plant auxiliaries after an outage, provide internal emergency power while the plant is taken through a controlled shutdown, and remain available as security power during normal operation.
Because the sets parallel automatically, connect to the grid automatically and interact with the plant DCS, the standby plant is operated and monitored as part of the main plant rather than as separate equipment — with fault detection and protection handled at system level.
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