Make Morocco an “electric crossroads”

The blackout that occurred this April 28 in the Iberian Peninsula, which touched Spain, Portugal, Andorra as well as certain regions of the south of France, and the rapid reaction of Morocco, which mobilized up to 38% of its production capacities to help its neighbor in the North, perfectly illustrate the growing interconnection of energy systems on both sides can play the kingdom in regional electrical stability.

Indeed, it is thanks to the underwater electric cable which connects Morocco to Spain that this energy solidarity was made possible. Put into service in the 1990s and reinforced since, this inter-author not only allows trade in electricity between the two banks, but also serves as a relay during the disruption period. This is how, for almost three decades, the Moroccan electrical network has been connected to the European network, the largest in the world, via Spain. This interconnection allows Morocco to sell its surplus electricity or import it if necessary. It helps to balance national production, which has experienced considerable boom in recent years thanks to investments in renewable energies.

Building on the success of this interconnection, the kingdom intends to further strengthen its energy links with Europe through two new projects currently under study: the duplication of the existing line with Spain, and the creation of a new interconnection with Portugal. The recent blackout has also highlighted, in the eyes of the two countries in southern Europe, that their best energy security guarantee is based on closer exchanges with their African neighbor. But Morocco’s ambitions to become an electric crossroads do not stop there. Thanks to its strategic geographic position, the kingdom also develops an interconnection with its neighbor in the South, Mauritania. An agreement in this sense was signed in early February in Nouakchott, relating to the development and realization of this electrical link between the two countries. Through this interconnection, the entire Sahelo-Saharan region is concerned, which is concerned, as part of the deployment of West Africa Pool (WAPP) projects, aimed at integrating electrical networks from West African countries.

Thus, while developing its production of green energies, Morocco could establish itself as an essential crossroads of exchanges between the countries of the South, carrying attractive energy projects, and the countries of the North, confronted with the urgency of decarboning their energy mix.