EcoSeed
Morocco is eyeing 40 percent renewable energy by 2020 through 6 gigawatts of power to be generated from a variety of alternative sources such as wind, solar, biomass, hydro and other renewables, according to areport by the Saudi Gazette.
This is in the country’s effort to cut its heavy reliance on energy imports and become a leader in North Africa when it comes to “green” power sources. Currently, the country imports 90 percent of its electricity from Europe, resulting in high energy costs.
According to Sa”id Mouline, director of Morocco’s Agency of Development for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency, the public-private venture Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy will install a 160-megawatt concentrated solar power project which is part of the larger 500-MW CPV project in Ouarzazate in southern central Morocco.
The Moroccan government aims to build 2 GW of solar power in the next eight years, consisting of five solar stations. The first station will be built by 2014 while the rest will be finished by 2019.
When completed, the solar scheme is expected to meet 18 percent of the country’s annual electricity demand.
Morocco will also install 2 GW of wind power. For now, the country has 300 MW of wind power installed.
In 2009, Morocco planned a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which included the creation of a policy that supports the development of renewable energy schemes in the country. – EcoSeed Staff
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