National Office for Electricity, Drinking Water Joins Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership

Rabat – Morocco’s National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) has become a new member of the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (GSEP) during the organization’s 28th annual Summit held in Osaka, Japan.

ONEE, which was represented at the summit by its director general, Abderrahim El Hafidi, becomes the only member from Africa and the Arab world at the GSEP, a CEO-led international organization composed of the world’s leading electricity companies promoting sustainable electrification worldwide, the Office said in a press release.

On this occasion, El Hafidi highlighted the progress made by Morocco in the electricity sector, noting that the kingdom is willing to share its experience, particularly in the African continent, which is faced with enormous electrification challenges.

The summit was also an opportunity for El Hafidi to explore the possibility of sealing partnerships with member companies.

In this regard, ONEE’s head had discussions with presidents of EDF (France) and Hydro-Québec.

The Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership’s (GSEP) annual CEO Summit ended Tuesday in Osaka, Japan. This flagship event, hosted by the 2018-2019 Chair Company, Kansai Electric Power, brought together CEOs and senior executives of some of the world’s largest electricity companies. These leaders agreed that progress in achieving climate and sustainable development goals can only be made if all energy providers, policymakers, customers, technology providers and other actors collaborate to strongly accelerate efficient electrification of our societies.

These actors will also need to respond together to the world’s increasing demand for cleaner, affordable and reliable energy – both on the electricity company-side and in end-use sectors such as transport, buildings and industry. This can be achieved through large-scale financing, which will require a holistic restructuring of regulatory frameworks to foster long-term investment.

Discussions at the Summit centered on the 4Ds: decarbonization, decentralization, digitalization, and deregulation and changing market design (including investment and financing). These are megatrends that are structurally transforming the electricity sector.

The GSEP Chairmen concluded the event by issuing the Osaka Summit Statement, outlining GSEP members’ commitment to accelerate efficient electrification and innovation along the full electricity value chain, which will deliver both economic and social benefits. The Chairmen also welcomed the two new companies to the group – ONEE from Morocco and PGE from Poland – reinforcing GSEP’s position as a unique global information hub for innovative technologies, public policies, business models, and progress on electrification.

The group also publicly released its 2018-2019 Annual Report, which highlights its key achievements for the year.

Next year’s Summit will be hosted in Italy by Enel, focusing on building an electrification alliance across different value chains.