Morocco issues massive wind farms tender
Morocco’s renewable energy agency (MASEN) launched a pre-qualification tender for a 400-megawatt wind farms project in the country’s north on April 25th, according to Reuters. The move comes as part of a large sustainable energy transition for the North African country, competing with the likes of Mauritania and Egypt to become a leading green energy exporter.
The tender for the wind farms asks developers to submit pre-qualification bids by June 24th to finance, build, and operate the project.
The 400MW “Nassim Nord” project is comprised of a series of wind farms in the northern provinces of Fahs Anjra and M’diq-Fnideq, to generate a total of 150MW, as-well-as facilities in Tangier and Tetouan which will have a capacity of 250MW.
Morocco aims for renewables to represent 52% of its installed capacity by 2030, from its current 37.6%, mostly through investments in solar, wind, and green hydrogen plants.
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AFP reported that, on March 11th, Rabat announced that one million hectares of Moroccan land had been earmarked for green hydrogen projects alone. 300,000 hectares will purportedly be made available to foreign and domestic investors as part of the first phase of its sustainable energy transition.
Although Morocco has modest oil and gas reserves, the country has abundant solar and wind resources and is well-positioned to become a leading exporter of green energy. For the time being, however, the country is reliant on imports for around 90% of its energy needs and is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
62% of Moroccan electricity production came from coal, gas, and oil in 2022, with only 21.3% from wind and solar production, and 16.7% from hydroelectricity.
Reuters / AFP
