The Kingdom of Morocco is already doing quite alright in terms of renewable energy relative to most other countries. Renewable energy creates about 35% of the country’s electricity needs, according to data from 2019. But the country is aiming to do much better.
By 2030, Morocco wants to be at 50% renewable energy (for electricity needs), and it aims to reach 100% renewables by 2050.
Morocco, with 35% #WindWaterSolar renewable electricity now, pushing toward 100%https://t.co/AdnggNOfQt #WWS #WindWaterSolar
— Mark Z. Jacobson (@mzjacobson) January 21, 2021
At the end of 2019, solar power had a production capacity of 736 megawatts (MW) in Morocco. Renewables as a whole had 3,264 MW of production capacity. Going forward, with solar power now the cheapest electricity option in history, solar will carry much of the renewable energy growth on its back. The other big source of new energy capacity and production will be wind energy. Morocco certainly has a great deal of natural wind resources and power potential.
A new report from the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA), based in the UAE, acknowledges that Morocco is a current leader in renewable energy action. “It said Morocco is one of the most advanced countries in successfully planning and executing its renewable energy strategies and that it is focusing on producing 42 percent of renewable energy by 2020 and 52 percent by the end of 2030 in the capacity mix,” ZAWYA summarizes.
The country is already exploring how it could achieve 100% renewable energy. That’s impressive and unusual by itself. Notably, The Solutions Project has mapped out how countries around the world could do this in a detailed way, even looking at the needs across short timespans during every day of the year. Hopefully the leadership of Morocco are consulting that or use elements of it in the future. The short summary for the country from The Solutions Project is as follows:
“The efforts put in place by Morocco to create green policies increased rapidly since its support and signature of the Paris Agreement. The country is committed to implement its renewable energy strategy,” MESIA’s Solar Outlook Report 2021 states. “Despite some uncertainties due to COVID19, its targets for 2020 were expected to be reached as well as its ultimate goal to produce 52% of its electricity from renewables. Rapid growth of additional share of electricity from renewables induces, similarly to other countries, issues of integration to the grid and Morocco is increasingly looking into smart digital solutions.”
Overall, Morocco seems to be taking shrewd and logical steps forward to actually reach its dreams of 100% renewable energy by 2050.
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