Renewable energy in Morocco
Encyclopedia
Renewable energy in Morocco represented 0.4% of the national energy balance (excluding biomass) and
nearly 10% of electricity production in 2007. Supported by strong hydropower sources and the newly
installed wind energy
parks (147 MW installed and 975 MW under deployment). Morocco plans a $13 billion expansion of wind, solar and hydroelectric power generation capacity and associated
infrastructure that should see the country get 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The Moroccan government is keen on
increasing renewable energy production, as Morocco's January-September oil bill reached about USD 1.4 billion in subsidies in 2009, registering a fall of 57.9% compared to 2008.
.
from projects such as the $400 billion Desertec
initiative. It is unclear whether the Desertec consortium's planned investment in solar thermal energy across North Africa
could go into Morocco or how much power could eventually be exported to Europe, she said. Desertec's plans are likely to need
several years more of feasibility studies.
Renewable energy
plays a key role in ONE's $3.4 billion energy development plan, announced in January 2004. The goal is to provide 80 percent of rural areas with electricity by 2008, while increasing the share of renewable energy from 0.24 percent in 2003 to 10 percent in 2011. The plan calls for two new wind projects, as well as a 200 - 250-MW thermo-solar facility in d’Ain Beni Mathar, of which 30 MW will be generated from solar power. One of the wind power facilities (60 MW) will be located in Essaouira
, while the other (140 MW) will be located near Tangiers. The Essaouira facility is scheduled to come on-line in 2007.
Morocco has additional renewable resources that could be developed, which the countries four perennial rivers and many dams with hydroelectric potential. In May 2005, ONE selected Temsol for a $27.6 million project to supply solar power to 37,000 rural homes by 2007. Similar contracts were awarded in May 2002 to a consortium led by Total Energie and in January 2004 to Apex-BP. Currently, only 55 percent of outlying villages have access to electricity.
Alstom, a French company building a high speed rail link between Tangier and Casablanca, will also build power generation facilities with a capacity of 470 megawatts to energize the rail link. While most of the capacity will come from standard gas combined cycle combustion, 20 megawatts will be from solar power.
. The first plant will be commissioned in 2014, and the entire project in 2019. Once completed, the solar project will provide 18% of Morocco’s annual electricity generation.
Morocco, the only African country to have a power cable link to Europe, aims to benefit from the €400bn ($573.8bn) expected to come from the ambitious pan-continental Desertec Industrial Initiative.
The project would add in terms of power generation the equivalent of the current electricity consumption of the country's commercial capital Casablanca
. Germany
has expressed its willingness to participate in the development of Morocco's solar energy project which the country has decided to carry out, as did the World Bank
. Germany
will also take part in the development of a water-desalination plant.
A net energy importer, Morocco launched the National Renewable Energy and Efficiency Plan in February 2008 to develop alternative energy to meet 15% of its domestic needs and increase the use of energy-saving methods.
The plan is expected to create more than 40,000 jobs and stimulate over €4.5bn in investment by 2020. The National Plan for the Development of Solar Thermal Energy, formulated in 2001, aims to install 440,000 solar-powered water heaters by 2012, of which 235,000 are completed. The Moroccan government plans to produce 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
In 2008 Morocco announced plans for a new campus providing knowledge-based services to strengthen research and training in clean technology. The campus is part of a US$219 million clean energy industrial park being built in the eastern city of Oujda
to support private sector investment as well as renewable energy companies. Building is underway, and the campus is expected to open by 2010.
Many initiatives are dedicated to renewable energy such as solar power plants, pumping stations, hydraulic turbines, waste
recycling, water pumps, sea water desalination, air conditioning and solar water heaters. RE is
also the focus of many economic and social programs, as in the case of rural electrification, where
individual photovoltaic solar systems account for 7% of energy production.
at 6 GW, the solar heater
market at 1M m2, and highlight strong potential for biomass enhancement (9 million hectares of
wooded areas
). The expectations in this field are high
among institutional stakeholders, economic players and also consumers. There are four main obstacles to incentives and institutional approaches: regulations are lacking,
there is no dedicated agency, renewable energy and energy efficiency are low priorities for national
development programs
dedicated to raising awareness and to ensuring sustainable demand in RE
and energy efficiency technologies and services, and taxation does not provide attractive market
conditions.
nearly 10% of electricity production in 2007. Supported by strong hydropower sources and the newly
installed wind energy
Wind power in Morocco
Wind power in Morocco amounts to an installed production capacity of 275 MW and 800 MW under construction. -Realised:# Tanger - Tanger Farm # Tanger - Dhar Sadane Farm...
parks (147 MW installed and 975 MW under deployment). Morocco plans a $13 billion expansion of wind, solar and hydroelectric power generation capacity and associated
infrastructure that should see the country get 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The Moroccan government is keen on
increasing renewable energy production, as Morocco's January-September oil bill reached about USD 1.4 billion in subsidies in 2009, registering a fall of 57.9% compared to 2008.
Industry
Despite huge wind and solar potential, it is too early to say when Morocco could begin exporting renewable electricity to EuropeEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
from projects such as the $400 billion Desertec
Desertec
DESERTEC is a concept proposed by the DESERTEC Foundation for making use of solar energy and wind energy. This concept will be implemented in North Africa and the Middle East by the consortium Dii GmbH, formed by a group of European companies and the DESERTEC Foundation...
initiative. It is unclear whether the Desertec consortium's planned investment in solar thermal energy across North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
could go into Morocco or how much power could eventually be exported to Europe, she said. Desertec's plans are likely to need
several years more of feasibility studies.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
plays a key role in ONE's $3.4 billion energy development plan, announced in January 2004. The goal is to provide 80 percent of rural areas with electricity by 2008, while increasing the share of renewable energy from 0.24 percent in 2003 to 10 percent in 2011. The plan calls for two new wind projects, as well as a 200 - 250-MW thermo-solar facility in d’Ain Beni Mathar, of which 30 MW will be generated from solar power. One of the wind power facilities (60 MW) will be located in Essaouira
Essaouira
Mogador redirects here, for the hamlet in Surrey see Mogador, Surrey.Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore...
, while the other (140 MW) will be located near Tangiers. The Essaouira facility is scheduled to come on-line in 2007.
Morocco has additional renewable resources that could be developed, which the countries four perennial rivers and many dams with hydroelectric potential. In May 2005, ONE selected Temsol for a $27.6 million project to supply solar power to 37,000 rural homes by 2007. Similar contracts were awarded in May 2002 to a consortium led by Total Energie and in January 2004 to Apex-BP. Currently, only 55 percent of outlying villages have access to electricity.
Alstom, a French company building a high speed rail link between Tangier and Casablanca, will also build power generation facilities with a capacity of 470 megawatts to energize the rail link. While most of the capacity will come from standard gas combined cycle combustion, 20 megawatts will be from solar power.
Wind power
In recent years, most efforts have gone into the development of wind energy, which currently accounts for 150 MW of installed capacity and is expected to reach 1554 MW by 2012. The Tangier wind farm, which will be Morocco's largest, entered construction in 2009 and is expected to go on-line in 2010. The country's wind potential has been estimated at around 6000 MW a year, but its realisation would require billions of euros in investment.Solar power
In November 2009 Morocco announced it will install 2 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2020. Morocco has launched one of the world’s largest solar energy projects costing an estimated $9 billion. The aim of the project is to generate 2,000 megawatts of solar generation capacity by the year 2020. Five solar power stations are to be constructed. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), a public-private venture, has been established to lead the project. MASEN has invited expressions of interest in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and financing of the first of the five planned solar power stations, the 500-megawatt plant in the southern town of OuarzazateOuarzazate
-See also:* Tizi n'Tichka: The mountain pass that leads to Ouarzazate* List of Movies shot in Morocco-External links:* at IMDb...
. The first plant will be commissioned in 2014, and the entire project in 2019. Once completed, the solar project will provide 18% of Morocco’s annual electricity generation.
Morocco, the only African country to have a power cable link to Europe, aims to benefit from the €400bn ($573.8bn) expected to come from the ambitious pan-continental Desertec Industrial Initiative.
National policy
In November 2009 Morocco announced a solar energy project worth $9 billion which officials said will account for 38 percent of the North African country's installed power generation by 2020. Funding would be from a mix of private and state capital. The ceremony was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Moroccan king. The project will involve five solar power generation sites across Morocco and will produce 2,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.The project would add in terms of power generation the equivalent of the current electricity consumption of the country's commercial capital Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
has expressed its willingness to participate in the development of Morocco's solar energy project which the country has decided to carry out, as did the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
will also take part in the development of a water-desalination plant.
A net energy importer, Morocco launched the National Renewable Energy and Efficiency Plan in February 2008 to develop alternative energy to meet 15% of its domestic needs and increase the use of energy-saving methods.
The plan is expected to create more than 40,000 jobs and stimulate over €4.5bn in investment by 2020. The National Plan for the Development of Solar Thermal Energy, formulated in 2001, aims to install 440,000 solar-powered water heaters by 2012, of which 235,000 are completed. The Moroccan government plans to produce 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.
In 2008 Morocco announced plans for a new campus providing knowledge-based services to strengthen research and training in clean technology. The campus is part of a US$219 million clean energy industrial park being built in the eastern city of Oujda
Oujda
Oujda is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of 1 million. The city is located about 15 kilometers west of Algeria and about 60 kilometers south of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Oriental Region of Morocco and the birthplace of the current Algerian president,...
to support private sector investment as well as renewable energy companies. Building is underway, and the campus is expected to open by 2010.
Many initiatives are dedicated to renewable energy such as solar power plants, pumping stations, hydraulic turbines, waste
recycling, water pumps, sea water desalination, air conditioning and solar water heaters. RE is
also the focus of many economic and social programs, as in the case of rural electrification, where
individual photovoltaic solar systems account for 7% of energy production.
Forecast
Energy sources are significant. Forecasts estimate wind energy potentialWind power in Morocco
Wind power in Morocco amounts to an installed production capacity of 275 MW and 800 MW under construction. -Realised:# Tanger - Tanger Farm # Tanger - Dhar Sadane Farm...
at 6 GW, the solar heater
market at 1M m2, and highlight strong potential for biomass enhancement (9 million hectares of
wooded areas
Agriculture in Morocco
Agriculture in Morocco employs about 40% of the nations workforce. And thus, is the largest employer in the country. In the rainy sections of the northeast, barley, wheat, and other cereals can be raised without irrigation. On the Atlantic coast, where there are extensive plains, olives, citrus...
). The expectations in this field are high
among institutional stakeholders, economic players and also consumers. There are four main obstacles to incentives and institutional approaches: regulations are lacking,
there is no dedicated agency, renewable energy and energy efficiency are low priorities for national
development programs
Economic history of Morocco
The economic history of Morocco has largely been charted by the national government through a series of five-year plans. Centralized planning has gradually given way to moderate privatization and neo-liberal economic reforms.-1960s:...
dedicated to raising awareness and to ensuring sustainable demand in RE
and energy efficiency technologies and services, and taxation does not provide attractive market
conditions.