Can floating solar panels solve Morroco’s water crisis?

Morocco is sitting on a potential energy goldmine that could simultaneously save its vanishing water reserves, according to a report by PV Magazine on May 11th. The concept is simple: covering the country’s drying dams with floating solar panels. While the technology is ready, the kingdom’s outdated legal books are not, leaving a massive energy source untapped while the country faces its worst drought in decades.

New data from researchers at Abdelmalek Essaadi University and USMBA shows just how much is at stake. Morocco’s 58 monitored dams currently bleed roughly 909 million cubic meters of water every year to evaporation alone. To put that in perspective, the study suggests that if authorities covered 40% of that water surface with solar panels, they would generate 42.38 TWh of electricity. That is enough to meet the country’s entire power demand, based on 2023 figures.

The push for this technology is becoming a matter of survival rather than just “green” optics. Lead researcher Prof. Aboubakr El Hammoumi argues that saving water is now a more urgent reason to build these plants than generating electricity. As the government spends billions on desalination plants to keep taps running, floating solar offers a cheaper way to protect the water already in the dams. A 13 MW pilot project at the Oued Rmel reservoir near Tangier is already proving the point, reportedly cutting evaporation by 30% while powering the local port.

However, the project is hitting a wall. Despite the recent launch of the 305 MW Noor Atlas program in March 2026, Morocco has no specific laws governing the installation of solar panels on public water. Without a clear procurement framework, private companies cannot bid on these projects, making the whole idea unbankable. For Morocco to actually fix its water and energy problems at the same time, the government needs to stop just building panels and start writing the laws to support them.

Maghrebi.org, PV Magazine.