Morocco made a positive step toward realization of ambitious renewable energy programs, says OBG

Morocco has made a positive step toward the realization of the country’s ambitious renewable energy programs, the UK think tank Oxford Business Group (OBG) said.

In this regard, the OBG cited the public-private partnerships in the works to develop Morocco’s wind and solar energy sector.

It recalled the contract signed last April by the Moroccan electricity provider, Office Nationale de l’Electricité (ONE), for the construction of a 150-MW wind farm to a consortium of EDF Energie Nouvelles (EDF EN), the French company’s renewable energy arm, and Japan’s Mitsui.

The two companies will be responsible for the financing, design and construction of the wind farm, located 12 km northwest of Taza, it said.

The Taza wind farm, it continued, is the first step in Morocco’s Wind Energy Program, which has set a goal of reaching 1000 MW of wind energy capacity by 2015 and 2000 MW by 2020.

The think tank added that the second phase of the Wind Energy Program calls for the creation of an additional five wind farms with a collective installed capacity of 850 MW to meet the 2015 target.

Moreover, it noted that Morocco has set the equally ambitious goal of reaching solar energy capacity of 2000 MW by 2020.