1) They're very leery of whatever's Russia up to, and much of their NatGas comes from there. Any alternative energy is good energy.
2) It shores up the economy in a relatively stable part of northern Africa that'd be a prime location for people wanting to immigrate to spain. More refugees are not a good plan.
3) It helps Europe to hit Carbon reduction targets without having to deal with the NIMBY population.
Or at least it was a strategic thing. Reading some more, European investors pulled out, and it's the Africa Development Bank now. Maybe the money is too nuts even with strategic goals in mind.
True. Yet, the size of this single renewable project is bigger than what happens around my town. It is more significant than the current rounding errors.
Seems more like another of the typical schemes to put development world countries into debt. The book Confessions of an Economic Hitman by a former World Bank contractor gives a lot of details of how these deals work. (An on the surface bona fide project that no one would contest, a dam, urban development, highways, bridges. A 'sponsored' consultancy is sent in to make favorable projections. Key government officials in the target country take a couple percent of the loan for themselves, the public is on the hook for the rest forever, as the project inevitably fails to make economic sense.)
Also from Wikipedia: they have a contract to sell the power at 19¢/kWh. For reference, coal and wind in the U.S. sell for more like 3¢.
It's great to see the world embrace clean energy, but the money in this project seems nuts to me.