Alstom strengthens its commitment to Morocco in a long-term partnership based on technology and sustainable development

With a very high speed train frame agreement and contracts
in rail transport  and power generation, Alstom strengthens
its commitment to Morocco in a long-term partnership based on
technology and sustainable development.

Signed on Monday, 22 October during the visit of the
President of the French Republic, the frame agreement between
the Kingdom of Morocco and France plans to award French
industry, and in particular, Alstom, a partner alongside SNCF
and RFF in the world rail speed record (1),  with the
design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of the
very high speed Tangier-Casablanca rail link.
The 200 km Tangier-Kenitra section will form the first phase of
this project. This link will be used by trains running at 320
kph at commercial speed and should be in operation by 2013.

The choice made by the Moroccan authorities signals strong
recognition of French know-how in the very high speed rail
sector and paves the way for commercial negotiations, 
which should be completed in 2008, to implement the project. As
part of this project, Alstom is scheduled to deliver 18 very
high speed Duplex double deck train sets.

This very high speed rail link project has been studied
since 2004. To meet the strong increase in passenger traffic
(rising 10 to 15% per year), the Moroccan railway master plan
provides for the construction of 1,500 km of high speed rail
lines by 2030 to 2035, which will be capable of carrying 120
million travellers on two routes the
Tangier-Marrakech-Agadir Atlantic link and the
Rabat-Fez-Oujda Maghreb link. Journey time will
be cut from 4 hours 45 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes on the
Tangier-Rabat link, from 5 hours to 2 hours 10 minutes for the
Tangier-Casablanca link and from 3 hours 30 minutes to 1 hour
15 minutes for the Casablanca-Marrakech section.

As a result, Morocco will be the first country in Africa to
have a technologically highly advanced rail transport
infrastructure, using the same very high speed global standards
as in France, which are a reference throughout the world. 

 

(1) Alstom, SNCF and RFF broke the world rail speed
record on 3 April 2007 with a speed of 574.8 kph

Alstom will also sign on October 23 a contract worth 74
million with Moroccan National Railways (ONCF) for the delivery
of 20 new generation
Prima electric locomotives. With a very high
traction power of 6 MW, these locomotives will be used from
2010 throughout the Moroccan network for freight operations at
a speed of 120 kph and for passenger service at a speed of 160
kph. The contract also includes the maintenance of these
locomotives for two years.

The new generation of Prima electric locomotives is built on
a modular platform of fully-proven standardised components to
ensure the operational reliability of the rolling stock, ease
of maintenance and product evolution. 

In addition, Alstom signed a contract in power generation to
participate in equipping the future
Aïn Béni Mathar power plant which
will include a major technological breakthrough.

Located around 100 kilometres from Oujda in north-eastern
Morocco, this plant will be one of the first gas combined cycle
power plants in the world to also use solar energy. It will
generate a total of 470 MW, 20 MW of which will come from solar
energy collected by a 183,000 m² field of solar panels.
Most of the electrical power will be produced by two GT13E2 gas
turbines, a steam turbine and three air-cooled turbogenerators
supplied by Alstom. The order, awarded to Alstom by the Spanish
firm Abener (Abengoa Group) on behalf of Moroccos Office
National dElectricité (ONE) and which includes
long-term maintenance, is worth over 200 million.

By associating solar power and gas combined cycle combustion
technologies, the Aïn Béni Mathar plant will increase
the use of renewable energy sources in Morocco and reduce the
cost of producing electricity while limiting greenhouse gas
emissions (CO2).

The high speed rail link project, like the contracts for
delivering the Prima locomotives and equipment for the Aïn
Béni Mathar power plant (these latter two represent a
total of 270 million), is proof of Alstoms highly
active presence in Morocco as a provider of innovative,
environmentally-friendly solutions.

Alstom has been operating in Morocco for over 40 years and
is one of the major suppliers to the countrys Office
National dElectricité (ONE). It built the Jorf
Lasfar power plant (4 X 330 MW) and one of the most
sophisticated hydropower complexes in the world at Afourer.
Over half the electricity consumed in Morocco is generated
using Alstom-sourced equipment. In the field of rail transport,
Alstom is also a first-line supplier to the countrys
Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF) for rolling stock and
signalling systems.
 

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