Algeria will not renew gas pipeline deal with Morocco, Spain

Algeria announced that it will abandon a gas pipeline that supplied Spain via Morocco in a hostile act that followed the severance of diplomatic ties with Rabat.

 

Moroccan officials rely on the pipeline to power two electricity plants in the north, but the decision would do little damage as the Kingdom foresaw the move.

 

The two plants can switch to coal until Morocco secures supply for gas. The country has launched a national strategy that aims at boosting the share of renewable energy in the overall energy mix to 52% by 2030.

It also plans to boost its gas supply through setting up advanced infrastructure, including floating storage and regasification units.

 

Algerian authorities said they will secure gas supply to Spain via a Mediterranean pipeline, but observers see it as no replacement for the Maghreb–Europe Gas Pipeline that crosses Morocco and supplies both Spain and Portugal.

 

The move came in a series of hostile acts by Algeria which unilaterally cut diplomatic ties with Morocco, in a move Rabat described as “unjustified” and based on “fallacious” and “absurd” pretexts.