RABAT: Morocco will invest ¤10bn ($13.5bn) over the next four years to boost power generation and meet rising demand, with renewables providing nearly half of the increase, newspapers reported yesterday.
With no significant oil or gas reserves, Morocco is aiming to become a world-class producer of green energy, notably with vast solar power projects in its southern desert region.
Under the plan drawn up by the department of water and electricity (ONE), 112.3bn dirhams (¤10bn) will be spent on raising electricity production by 4,584.5 megawatts, or 67 percent of currently installed capacity, by 2017.
Some 45 percent, or 2,090 megawatts, of the incremental production will come from solar and wind power, according to ONE, cited in Moroccan newspapers.
ONE says it will provide 35.3bn dirhams (¤3.15bn) of the required investment, and it remains unclear how the remaining costs will be funded.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Wednesday announced $100m in “financial support” to help with the construction of Morocco’s solar and wind power farms.
The North African kingdom enjoys strong links with Gulf monarchies, which invited Morocco and Jordan to join the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council in 2011 in the midst of Arab Spring uprisings.
Rabat’s new rapprochement with the GCC led to the signing of a partnership to finance development projects in Morocco worth more than $5bn over five years.
AFP
