MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power Summit Highlights Morocco’s Strategy in Energy Transition

Dakar – The strategy of Morocco in energy transition was highlighted Thursday at the second MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power Summit, organized in Senegal’s Diamniadio, 30 km from Dakar, by Energy Capital & Power (ECP).

National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines (ONHYM) Director General Amina Benkhadra stressed that thanks to the vision of His Majesty the King, Morocco has initiated since the beginning of the 21st century a period marked by major infrastructure achievements and several structuring projects, particularly in the areas of electrification, transport and renewable energy.

A successful energy transition requires a proactive policy of the State, a commitment of all stakeholders and a regulatory framework of support, she said before the participants in this panel.

In this sense, she said that the program of widespread rural electrification is a success story to share in Africa, adding that it has been very successful and has achieved a rate of electrification of more than 99% against only 18% in 1995, thanks to the strategy put in place in this regard by the National Electricity Board.

Stressing that energy is essential for any economic development, Benkhadra explained that the energy strategy of Morocco is based on the development of renewable energy resources (RE), through the implementation of the Solar and Wind Plans (52% of installed capacity in RE by 2030) and the introduction of LNG and natural gas.

Recalling that Morocco has, since the 80s, perceived the importance of the role it could play on the regional level in terms of exchange of electrical energy, the Director General of ONHYM said that Morocco is now positioned as “a major player in the electricity market in the Euro-Maghreb zone and fully plays its role as a regional energy hub and transit country for cross-border exchanges of electricity.

“Thanks to the strategic assets that Morocco has in terms of interconnection infrastructure, it will be able to play a central role in the creation of an African regional electricity market and its integration into the European market,” she noted.