French company VINCI Construction, in a joint venture with Andritz Hydro, has won a contract worth €284m to build the Abdelmoumen pumped storage hydroelectric plant (PSP) located 70km from Agadir in Morocco.

The turnkey project is part of a plan to develop and integrate renewable energies in Morocco.

The contract includes construction surveys, civil engineering works, supply of materials and pumping equipment, assembly, testing and commissioning.

VINCI Construction will carry out civil engineering work, including earthworks for two reservoirs, excavation for the powerhouse to be embedded in the slope, as well as installation of a 3km penstock pipe, including 1km underground.

New roads will be laid and several others will be repaired to provide easy access to the facilities.

Andritz Hydro will provide electromechanical equipment, including two 175MW Francis turbines developed at the company’s laboratory, and a high-voltage substation.

During the 48-month project, 840 people will be recruited, including 780 to be hired locally.

A training programme will be held to ensure worksite safety and quality.

Water from an uphill tank will be released into the 3km transfer line (penstock and galleries) to a tank 550m downhill.

A 350MW reversible hydroelectric plant built along the penstock between the two reservoirs will generate electricity when operating in turbine mode and pump water from the lower to the upper reservoir in pumping mode.

Depending on the amount of surplus electricity available or the needs of the Moroccan electricity grid, the system can be switched between pumping and turbine mode up to 20 times a day.

In Morocco, VINCI operates primarily through its subsidiaries, Sogea-Satom and VINCI Energies.

Sogea-Satom subsidiaries, Sogea Maroc and Dumez Maroc, provide solutions and services in the building, engineering structures, industrial civil engineering and hydraulic engineering business areas as well as marine works.

VINCI Energies Maroc, a major provider in the country’s electrification programme initiated in 1996, also develops high-voltage and extra high-voltage electricity generation, transmission, transformation and distribution infrastructure.