Morocco is accelerating plans to add 9 gigawatts to its electricity generation capacity – enough power for nearly 8 million homes – with 7GW coming from renewables. Contact online >>
Morocco is accelerating plans to add 9 gigawatts to its electricity generation capacity – enough power for nearly 8 million homes – with 7GW coming from renewables.
But the country will need to discover or import more gas as it bets on creating a new hydrogen economy, according to Leila Benali, its minister of energy transition and sustainable development.
“We want not only to move from coal or cater to the intermittency of renewables. We also need gas infrastructure to prepare for the green ammonia, the new methanol we want to deploy at scale,” Benali said, speaking on the sidelines of the Cop28 climate conference.
The Moroccan government plans to launch a green hydrogen initiative next year to attract local and foreign investors.
Benali added that Rabat wants to produce more than half of its electricity from renewables before 2030. The remainder will come mainly from natural gas.
The renewables will require $9 billion, while the government intends to invest another $4 billion in gas infrastructure.
Morocco has adopted an aggressive renewables strategy in part because the country of 37 million people is poor in hydrocarbon resources. Today, 42 percent of its power generation comes from renewables, Benali said.
The country can now generate 4.5GW from renewables, according to Benali. This is one of the highest figures in the Arab world, surpassing Egypt (3.5GW) and the UAE (2.6GW).
Morocco has formed multiple partnerships with overseas investors for energy transition projects. Masdar, a UAE government-owned company, is part of a consortium that won a tender in May 2019 to construct the 800MW Noor Midelt solar plant in Morocco. It is developing the plant alongside France’s EDF Renewables and Morocco’s Green of Africa.
In April this year, Dubai-based Amea Power won a contract to build two solar power plants.
However the kingdom still depends heavily on imports of oil, gas and coal. Its annual consumption of natural gas is estimated at around 1 billion cubic metres.
Morocco’s reserves total about 39 billion cubic metres of gas, according to Global Energy Monitor, while it produces only 100 million cubic metres.
Several international companies, including Sound Energy of the UK, have made gas discoveries recently, which may increase production up to 400 million cubic metres per year – but still well below the country’s needs.
The kingdom has been importing gas via the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline from Spain, following the deterioration of relations with neighbouring Algeria over Western Sahara. The Moroccan government has also explored investment in coastal regasification terminals to improve energy security.
Last Monday Rabat and Abu Dhab signed a long-awaited investment co-operation agreement to develop an Africa-Atlantic pipeline. The project intends to channel Nigeria’s gas to Morocco and Europe.
The UAE will participate financially and technically in the $25 billion-plus, 5,600km long pipeline, which will transport Nigerian gas through 13 national borders along the Atlantic coast.
“It’s a win-win partnership. Being able to have those discussions with our European partners, African partners, and the rest of the world, because the Atlantic Basin is also very important to us, is key,” said Benali.
The country’s energy strategy also includes plans to improve energy efficiency and storage, and invest in grid connections.
“Like other nations, be it from the global north or the global south, Morocco has under-invested in transmission and distribution networks,” the minister added.
It is planning a high-voltage direct current cable link to connect solar power from the country’s south to the north and Europe.
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Renewables are an increasingly important source of energy as countries seek to reduce their CO2 emissions and dependence on imported fossil fuels. Renewables are mainly used to generate electricity, though renewable technologies can also be used for heating in homes and buildings. Renewable biofuels are also an emerging technology solution to decarbonise parts of the transport sector.
Note thatmodern renewablesexcludes traditional uses of biomass, such as burning collected wood, agricultural byproducts or dung for cooking or heating. This has serious negative consequences on health and the environment, including contributing to millions of deaths annually from air pollution, and is targeted for phase-out in international development and climate goals and in the IEA''s Net Zero scenario.
Biofuels, mostly made from plants, and waste products, such as household trash and industrial wastes, can be burned to generate electricity or heat. This can have environmental and climate advantages compared to burning fossil fuels, though the impact varies widely depending on the fuel source and how it is used. Traditional uses of biomass for heating and cooking, which remain a major source of energy in many developing countries, are targeted for phase-out in international climate goals and IEA scenarios.
Biofuels are used in all parts of the energy system: as replacement for oil-based fuels in transportation, to generate electricity, for heating buildings, or to provide heat for industrial processes.
Renewables such as solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric dams generate electricity without burning fuels that emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants. As the costs of solar panels and wind turbines have fallen dramatically in recent years, renewables now represent the cheapest source of new electricity generation in many parts of the world.
Renewables also have an important role in providing heat for buildings and industrial processes. To achieve decarbonisation and energy saving objectives, many countries are encouraging individual homes and buildings to shift from fossil fuel heating systems such as gas- or oil-fired boilers to systems like heat pumps which are much more efficient and can be powered with electricity from low-carbon sources. However, in areas that rely on heating from centralised heat plants or combined heat and power (CHP) plants, burning biofuels and waste products can provide a lower-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. Geothermal heating can also provide renewable, low-carbon heat but is only feasible in specific locations with the right kind of volcanic or tectonic activity.
Renewable heat sources have made fewer inroads in industry, as many important industrial processes such as steelmaking require higher heat than renewable fuels can achieve. New techniques and technologies will be needed to decarbonise these areas.
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The Kingdom of Morocco is taking another step forward in its ambitions to develop the renewable energy sector. ONEE''s recently published 2022 annual report shows that renewable energies made a significant contribution to the country''s national electricity production in 2022.
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