Morocco is seeking to go beyond the target it set to reach 52% of renewable energy in the national electricity mix by 2030.
This was stressed at a working session held Thursday in Rabat, under the chairmanship of King Mohammed VI.
During the working session, held part of the Sovereign’s regular follow-up of the effective and operational implementation of the renewable energy strategy, King Mohammed VI gave instructions to revise the initial ambitions upwardly in order to exceed the 52% renewable energy target in the national electricity mix by 2030.
The Sovereign also instructed the Head of Government who was taking part in the working session to urge public administrations to give the example by applying energy saving measures. Administrations need to use renewable energy in public buildings to maximize energy efficiency and realize significant savings.
Similarly, the Sovereign stressed the need to adopt an additional integrated program to back all the scheduled water desalination plants with renewable energy production units to ensure their autonomy and save energy. These plants should rely primarily on the energy sources available nearby, like the wind power plant in Dakhla, or even the exploration of new sources of energy such as the waste energy transformation (Biomass) in big cities like Casablanca, the King explained.
The working session reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the renewable energy strategy, in a year marked by the switch on of Noor Ouarzazate with 580 MW, which, together with Noor Ouarzazate III, stands as the largest operating solar farm in the world.
The Noor Laayoune I and Noor Boujdour I solar power plants having a combined capacity of 100 MW were also completed this year. These two power plants were built under an innovative financing plan that used for the first time in the Kingdom green bonds. These plants are part of the first projects launched under the new development model of the southern provinces, to which over 77 billion dirhams have been dedicated to improve infrastructure, investment climate and the inhabitants’ living conditions.
Speaking at the meeting, head of the Moroccan renewable energy agency MASEN, Mustapha Bakoury, made a presentation on the next steps with regards to the completion of Noor PV II and Noor Midelt in the Atlas mountains.
As for wind energy, the King was briefed about several projects notably the Midelt 180MW plant and the 100 MW plant in Taza scheduled to be ready in 2019.
Next year will also be marked by the repowering of Koudia El Baida wind farm with 120 MW capacity.
