Asia's richest tycoon to build massive green energy plants in Morocco

Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest man, is in exploratory talks for a giant solar and wind renewables project in Morocco, reports US outlet Bloomberg.

Chairman of the $21 billion Adani Group, Gautam Adani is leading a conglomerate with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, green energy, edible oils, cement and real estate, among others.

The green energy generating mega-project aims to supply electricity and emissions-free fuel to Europe.

Citing sources “familiar with the proposals,” Bloomberg reports that the plants in the North African Kingdom will produce green hydrogen directed for export.

The project would be Adani’s largest clean power development outside India, and could be as large as 10 gigawatts, says the report.

“That would be almost equal to Morocco’s existing installed energy generation capacity, which includes a total of about 2.8 gigawatts of wind and solar,” according to BloombergNEF data.

The development would be delivered in two stages of 5 gigawatts and includes plans to supply power locally and to export some electricity direct to Europe, sources told Bloomberg.

Adani is also in talks with Morocco’s state-owned OCP Group for the sale of hydrogen, which the fertilizer maker could use as feedstock to produce carbon-free ammonia, according to the same source, quoting anonymous sources.

Although Adani, OCP and the Moroccan energy ministry have yet to confirm the news, the tycoon’s recent meeting with the Moroccan Ambassador to India reinforces the investment reports.

“Ambassador Mohamed Maliki paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani in Ahmedabad, which offered an opportunity to examine means to develop relations between this important group and the the Kingdom of Morocco in different domains of mutual interest,” read a tweet from the Embassy shared today.

Morocco, a regional leader in renewable energy projects and investments, has been multiplying and diversifying partners to take on its ambitious green energy producer role.

The objective is to not only secure the energy sovereignty of the Kingdom, but to position the country as a global provider of green hydrogen and clean energy, on the African continent and to neighboring Europe.