Morocco’s RE Potential Attracts European Firms to Invest in the Kingdom

The Green Capital Group, Polish leader in clean energy, is planning to develop an 8GW hydrogen production project at Dakhla in Morocco by 2028 and is finalising the budget for the mega plant.

Even independent power producer (IPP) Total Eren, a subsidiary of French oil major TotalEnergies, intends to invest $9.84 billion in a hydrogen and green ammonia project in Morocco. The production of these new energies will be based on wind and solar energy.

Total Eren plans to set up facilities in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region in the south of the Kingdom. The future facilities will be built on a 170,000-hectare site.

Morocco, which has an enormous wind and solar potential besides green hydrogen production, has announced last month that it was planning to launch an initiative in 2024 to attract local and foreign investors to green hydrogen projects as part of a strategy declared by the country’s King Mohammed VI.

The Moroccan government envisages that green hydrogen production will add value to renewable electricity production, in particular its transformation into products with higher energy density. The demand potential in large economies and markets like Europe represents an opportunity to export green energy. Establishing a national industry based on green hydrogen is also aimed at replacing ammonia imports with local production.

The government expects the demand for electricity to reach 30 TWh by 2030 and 307 TWh by 2050, that would require 2GW in renewable energy sources. The Morocco’s green hydrogen industry needs an estimated investment between $13.61 billion and $99.42 billion to meet the potential demand by 2050.

Morocco-Spain Grid

In fact, Morocco already has electricity interconnections with Spain and has done much to provide a secure legal and financial framework. The country was ranked 16^th in Ernst and Young’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index in October, the highest-ranked North African country.

The Green Capital Group has already set up a Moroccan subsidiary in Casablanca in April this year and efforts are underway to launch the 8GW project which will be managed by Green Capital Hydrogen department.

Besides, Hydrogen project, the Polish clean energy firm is also toying with the proposal to develop other projects in wind power and photovoltaics, through its subsidiary Green Capital New Technology, within the framework of law 13-09 on renewable energies, which authorises any natural or legal person, under public or private law, to develop, design, produce and sell electricity to a direct consumer in the Kingdom.

The Polish company’s main objective is to produce electricity from renewable sources and sell it to manufacturers via medium voltage lines. At present, it has targeted the regions of Tangier, Oriental, and Marrakech-Safi for these projects, but also those of Taza, Fez and Laâyoune, particularly for wind sources.