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Renewable energy
[edit]Renewable energy plays a key role in ONE's $3.4 billion energy development plan, announced in January 2004. The goal is to provide 80 percent of rural areas with electricity by 2008, while increasing the share of renewable energy from 0.24 percent in 2003 to 10 percent in 2011. Current framework of regulation in Morocco generally supports the use of renewable energy in the electricity sector, as law 13-09 (“renewable energy law”) was announced in 2010.[1] In 2015, Morocco further elevated their renewable energy target by announcing that they will attain 52 percent renewable energy portion in electricity by .[2][3] In order to achieve the target, Morocco generates its electricity through renewable sources like wind and solar radiation.
Wind power
[edit]As of 2016, Morocco has eight wind farms (Torres, Amogdoul, Lafarge, Akhfennir, Laayue, Tangier I, Cimar, and Haouma) with the total capacity of 487 MW running, furthermore another six wind farms are anticipated to be installed by 2020 with total capacity 1000 MW.[4] Morocco has set a goal to have 2 GW production capacity from wind power, it is part of the Moroccan Integrated Wind Energy Project which was issued in 2010.[5]
Solar power
[edit]In November 2009 Morocco announced a solar energy project worth $9 billion which officials said will account for 38 percent of the North African country's installed power generation by 2020.[6] Funding would be from a mix of private and state capital. The ceremony was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Moroccan king.[6] The project will involve five solar power generation sites across Morocco and will produce 2,000 MW of electricity by 2020.[6] The project would add in terms of power generation the equivalent of the current electricity consumption of the country's commercial capital Casablanca. Germany has expressed its willingness to participate in the development of Morocco's solar energy project[7] which the country has decided to carry out. Germany will also take part in the development of a water-desalination plant.[7]
The solar project focuses on developing Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaic (PV) facilities, both are managed by Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN).[8] Morocco pioneered solar energy technology by investing in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) program in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This is one of the actions to reduce Morocco’s dependency on fossil fuels and to reach the goal of 52% power generation from renewables by 2030.[9]
The biggest CSP project in Morocco is Noor Solar, situated in city Ouarzazate, on the edge of Sahara desert. The project comprises of 3 phases: Noor I, Noor II and Noor III. This Noor project is supported by a BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) basis of ACWA Power Ouarzazate, MASEN, Aries, and TSK. The first phase of the program - Noor I - was inaugurated in February 2016. Noor I employs 500,000 parabolic mirrors to eventually generate up to 160 MW electricity, which makes it one of the largest solar power plants in the world.[10] The program has two following phases - Noor II and Noor III - which are scheduled to operate by 2018. Beside CSP project, Morocco is also developing Noor PV 1 program and Noor Midelt phase 1, which essentially use photovoltaics to further increase the electricity generation from solar.[11] The whole complex of Noor Plant are scheduled to come online in 2018. The complex would have 582 MW of capacity, which could be utilized to provide electricity for 1.1 million houses. [10] From 2010 until 2015, electricity generated by solar and wind has increased almost four times.[12]
Hydro power
[edit]Morocco has additional renewable resources that could be developed, which the countries four perennial rivers and many dams with hydroelectric potential. In May 2005, ONE selected Temsol for a $27.6 million project to supply solar power to 37,000 rural homes by 2007. Similar contracts were awarded in May 2002 to a consortium led by Total Energie and in January 2004 to Apex-BP. Currently, only 55 percent of outlying villages have access to electricity.
Biomass energy
[edit]Biomass is also one of renewable sources that the country possessed abundantly with 12,568 GW h/year and 13,055 GWh/year potential in solid bioenergy and combination of biogas and biofuels. However, the country has only utilized less than 1% of the potentials due to high cost of investment and insufficient production process knowledge.[5]
Nuclear energy
[edit]Morocco has expressed interest in nuclear power for desalination and other purposes. In September 2001, the government signed an agreement with the United States establishing the legal basis for constructing a 2-MW research reactor. Morocco signed an agreement with the U.S. company, General Atomics, to construct the research reactor east of Rabat.
References
[edit]- ^ Schinke, Boris; Klawitter, Jens (25 April 2016). "Background Paper: Country Fact Sheet Morocco Energy and Development at a glance 2016" (PDF). Germanwatch Kaiserstr.
- ^ Graves, LeAnne (7 December 2015). "Morocco sets target for 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030". The National.
- ^ Vaissier, François-Guilhem (28 November 2016). "Morocco's renewable energy ambitions". White & Case.
- ^ "Morocco - Renewable Energy". export.gov. 21 September 2016.
- ^ a b Kousksou, T.; Allouhi, A.; Belattar, M.; Jamil, A.; El Rhafiki, T.; Arid, A.; Zeraouli, Y. (July 2015). "Renewable energy potential and national policy directions for sustainable development in Morocco". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 47: 46–57. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2015.02.056.
- ^ a b c Morocco unveils $9 bln solar power scheme | Reuters. Af.reuters.com (2009-11-03). Retrieved on 2010-11-21.
- ^ a b Germany to participate in Morocco's solar energy project. Moroccobusinessnews.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-21.
- ^ Leidreiter, Anna; Schurig, Stefan (2015). 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY: BOOSTING DEVELOPMENT IN MOROCCO. Hamburg, Germany: World Future Council.
- ^ "Learning from Morocco: Why Invest in Concentrated Solar Power?". The World Bank. 8 November 2016.
- ^ a b Narayan, Ranjana (17 April 2017). "Morocco's Noor Concentrated Solar Power Plant". Helioscp.
- ^ "Morocco shortlists five international bids for Noor Midelt PV-Concentrated Solar Power project". Helioscp.
- ^ "Morocco" (PDF). 24 September 2017.