Energy data analysis agency MEEC has ranked Morocco second among the leading renewable energy countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, just behind Israel.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates came third.
Following an in-depth analysis, the agency reveals that Morocco’s total installed renewable energy capacity has reached a significant value of 3.69 gigawatts by the end of 2022.
This capacity is divided between 1.55 GW of wind power, 0.83 GW of solar power and 1.31 GW of hydroelectric power (excluding pumped storage capacity).
This puts Morocco in second place, just behind Israel with its 4.8 GW, as a forerunner in renewable energies in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region.
According to MEEC’s findings, the United Arab Emirates is in third place, with a capacity of 3.64 GW. It should be noted that the United Arab Emirates plan to soon surpass Morocco with a 2 GW solar power plant, expected to be operational by the end of this year.
MEEC points out that, with the exception of hydropower, new renewable energy sources now account for a record 22.5% of Morocco’s total generating capacity by the end of 2022. All in all, renewable energy sources record an impressive 34.8%.
The only increase in Morocco’s generating capacity in 2022 came from an 87-megawatt wind farm in Taza, 100 kilometers east of Fez.
The wind farm comprises 27 turbines developed jointly by France’s EDF Renewables and Japan’s Mitsubishi. This contribution brings Morocco’s total capacity to 10.59 GW by the end of 2022, as highlighted by MEEC’s analysis.
MEEC also adds that although recent additions to Moroccan generating capacity have been modest, the state is focusing on substantial investments in hydroelectricity for energy transport and storage, in order to cope with fluctuations in renewable energy sources.
Consequently, despite recent modest increases in generation capacity in Morocco, the main investments of the Office National de l’Électricité et de l’Eau are directed towards modernizing the grid and energy storage infrastructure.
It is also mentioned that Morocco already has 464 megawatts of pumped storage capacity at the Afourer power station, east of Marrakech.
Renewable energies in Morocco received a recent boost with the announcement by the Office National de l’Électricité et de l’Eau (ONEE) of the launch of full commercial operations for the 300-megawatt Boujdour wind farm.
ONEE had previously announced the start of operations in February, and the final cost of the energy produced by Boujdour is estimated at 3.9 billion dirhams (around $400 million), up from the previous estimate of 3.5 billion dirhams.
The MEEC agency confirmed that the Boujdour wind farm, the eighth of its kind in the country, has a total capacity of 1.85 GW, placing it second among the four components of the 850 MW integrated wind project developed jointly by the Moroccan company Nareva and the Italian company Enel.
On the other hand, ONEE forecasts an annual output of 1,590 GW/h at Boujdour, with an average utilization rate of 60.5%. This rate is considerably higher than that achievable with photovoltaic solar energy, given that there is no place on earth where the sun shines more than 50% of the time, as MEEC points out.
However, like solar energy, wind power is not free from interruptions, and ideal sites for wind power plants are often located far from population centers. This requires significant additional investment in transport infrastructure, as the in-depth MEEC analysis underlines.
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