Morocco’s National Electricity Regulatory Authority expanded its mandate in December 2024, extending beyond electricity sector regulation to encompass strategic sectors including hydrogen, as the kingdom advances its green hydrogen industry development leveraging renewable energy resources and strategic geographic positioning.
Positioned with substantial renewable resources, particularly solar and wind, strategic geography at Europe’s doorstep, vast territory suitable for large-scale projects, and extensive coastline supported by developed port infrastructure, Morocco capitalizes on over fifteen years renewable energy expertise for national green hydrogen industry construction.
The Authority emphasizes its intention to contribute actively to hydrogen industry development following Royal Instructions, adapting its intervention framework, reinforcing capacities, and engaging necessary reforms to effectively ensure its emerging sector regulator role. The Authority monitors economic, regulatory, and technological hydrogen developments nationally and internationally, presiding since 2023 over the green hydrogen task force within Medreg, the Mediterranean energy regulators association.
However, Green hydrogen development’s impact on electrical systems figures among identified primary challenges. The Authority notes inevitable electricity demand increases due particularly to electrolyzers‘ high energy consumption, especially large-capacity units necessary for water dissociation into hydrogen and oxygen. This demand intensifies through hydrogen transformation, storage, and transport operations. In fresh water-scarce regions, green hydrogen production may require seawater desalination, an energy-intensive process further pressuring electrical systems.
Several international configurations under study include off-grid electrolyzers powered directly by renewable installations with or without storage, hybrid electrolyzers combining renewable energy and grid connection guaranteeing continuous supply, or entirely grid-connected electrolyzers requiring strict traceability and certification mechanisms ensuring low-carbon production. These technological choices carry direct implications for electrical system planning and regulation.
The report underscores strategic importance of green hydrogen production unit location choices, conditioning transport infrastructure needs for electricity or hydrogen. Options include installing units near renewable production sites, implying hydrogen or derivative transport toward consumption or export zones, or industrial or port zone placement near final users and logistical channels, necessitating green electricity delivery.
