Case Study Details - Future of Power Systems - Long-term delivery model for firm/usable clean energy

A long-term delivery model for firm, usable clean energy contracts for an agreed output profile – clean electricity delivered when the buyer needs it – rather than paying only for generated megawatt-hours. In practice, the buyer defines delivery expectations such as hourly coverage, ramping needs, seasonal firmness, and performance during critical net-load hours. The supplier then designs and operates a portfolio – typically solar photovoltaics paired with battery energy storage, and sometimes complemented by additional resources – to meet those obligations. This shifts value from “energy produced” to “service delivered,” so the developer must optimise forecasting, dispatch, storage cycling, curtailment strategy, and maintenance to deliver a reliability characteristic, not just annual volume. The contract must include explicit firmness and delivery obligations – with measurable performance metrics, settlement rules, and remedies for under-delivery – otherwise it collapses back into a standard long-term power purchase agreement that can leave the buyer exposed during the hours that matter most. Strategically, this model aligns private procurement with power-system needs by rewarding flexibility and dependable clean capacity, and by creating bankable revenue for configurations that improve system adequacy, not only renewable energy build.

Main outcomes of the solution

Reliability & Flexibility: By contracting for an hourly delivery profile, the solution rewards dispatchable behaviour (forecasting, scheduled charging and discharging, and fast response) so PV plus battery energy storage is operated to manage variability and meet demand-critical hours rather than maximise annual megawatt-hours.
Affordability: Firm-delivery obligations encourage asset optimisation - reducing peak stress, curtailment, and inefficient backup dispatch - which lowers total system costs by shifting value to least-cost flexibility and better utilisation of existing generation and network capacity.
Institutional Efficiency & Transparency: A contract built on measurable delivery metrics and settlement rules makes performance auditable and comparable across suppliers, supporting clearer investment signals and procurement discipline that align private contracts with evolving adequacy and flexibility needs.

Key implementation and scaling factors

Hourly, location-based measurement and attribute tracking must be in place so delivery performance can be verified and settled with low dispute risk.
Contracts must define firmness obligations as auditable metrics (coverage hours, tolerance bands, penalty logic and settlement timing) to keep the product distinct from a volumetric power purchase agreement.
Market and regulatory frameworks must let storage monetize system value - including stacking revenues where allowed - so firm-delivery offers are investable at scale.
Grid connection and operational integration, including forecasting, dispatch coordination and access to flexibility markets, must be secured to reliably deliver the contracted profile under real system constraints.

Case study

Morocco’s Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) and Acwa (2025) Morocco

In 2025, Morocco’s Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) awarded Acwa the Noor Midelt II and Noor Midelt III projects near Midelt. The implementation pairs utility-scale solar photovoltaics generation with co-located battery energy storage systems enabling the delivery of clean electricity beyond daylight hours. Together, the projects comprise approximately 800 MWp of solar PV capacity and around 1.2 GWh of battery storage, with batteries sized to provide several hundred megawatts of discharge capacity for over two hours to enhance grid stability and enable effective management of net-load fluctuations. Contracting is structured to support long-term performance: the projects are developed under a build–own–operate framework with Acwa in partnership with NAREVA Holding (as Moroccan local player). MASEN will act as the offtaker under a 30-year power purchase agreement. Earlier tender requirements for the Noor Midelt solar-plus-storage programme also specified delivery-point performance expectations for net capacity during off-peak hours, signalling a shift toward procuring usable output characteristics, not only energy volumes.

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