Morocco to Inject $40 Billion in Energy Sector by 2030

Morocco will have invested $40 billion by 2030 in projects aiming to develop the energy sector as it ambitions to derive 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources by the same year.

“The Kingdom has succeeded, through an ambitious strategy, to turn its challenges into genuine investment opportunities, through its commitment to projects aimed at developing the energy sector by 2030, 75% of which are devoted to renewable energies,” Minister of Energy Aziz Rabbah said in a speech at the opening of the first Energy Investment Forum in Bahrain’s capital, Manama.

The minister underscored the fruitful results of Morocco’s energy transition, noting that the share of wind and solar power in electricity production reached 30% of overall energy output in the country in 2016.

This transition has reduced the energy dependency rate from 98% in 2008 to 93.3% in 2016, Rabbah said.

The minister recalled that in 2016, the Noor 1 solar complex began operating with a capacity of 160 MW and a storage for 3 hours of low-light producing capacity.

He also pointed to Morocco’s efforts to strengthen the electricity interconnection with neighboring countries, in particular the Morocco-Portugal project, which is currently under study, with a capacity of 1,000 MW, and the project of a third interconnection of 700 MW with Spain, as well as other projects with sub-Saharan countries.

The forum, which focused on the latest developments in solar energy and renewable energy, was attended by experts working in the field of energy and investment institutions interested in financing energy projects, along with representatives from the United Nations, diplomatic missions, chambers of commerce and industry of the GCC and other Arab countries.