Morocco invests $5.6bn in clean energy projects

WAM

Morocco’s investment in cost-effective clean energy to meet local electricity demand has reached $5.6 billion, according to its energy transition and sustainable development minister Leila Benali.

Projects with a combined capacity of 4.6 gigawatts (GW) are currently under construction, Morocco World News daily reported citing the minister.

Nearly 203 megawatts (MWs) of additional capacity from renewable sources were put into service between 2021 and 2023. 

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Several new projects totalling about 1 GW were authorised during the same period. 

Benali said the government is offering incentives to promote solar energy use in the agricultural industry, such as exempting raw materials used in producing solar panels from value-added tax.

Morocco invested $5.2 billion in solar-related projects last August, with the Noor Ouarzazate complex, the largest renewable project in the country.

Meanwhile the $20 billion Xlinks Morocco-UK renewables project is “on track for completion in 2030”, the company’s CEO Simon Morrish told AGBI earlier this month.

Taqa, the UAE’s largest power producer, gave a substantial vote of confidence to the Xlinks’ Morocco-UK project in April with AED113 million ($31 million) in funding.