Page 16 - AfrElec Week 26 2022

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

Morocco reaches 1.9 GW

of wind and solar

MOROCCO MOROCCO has the third-largest renewables Another illustration of the Arab govern-
capacity among Arabic-speaking countries with ments’ willingness to support renewables
1.9 GW of solar and wind, Global Energy Mon- development is the region’s plans to produce an
itor said. additional 73 GW from new utility-scale solar
Morocco’s current solar and wind capacity and wind power projects. These projects will
puts it behind Egypt, which tops the regional raise the region’s current overall capacity by
ranking with 3.5 GW of installed capacity, and more than five-fold to attain 91% of the Arab
the UAE, which has a capacity of 2.6 GW. League’s 2030 renewable energy targets.
Jordan and Saudi Arabia follow Morocco The prospective projects include 114 solar
with 1.7 GW and 0.78 GW respectively. plants and 45 wind farms that are “markedly
As the Arab world has over 12 GW of util- large,” said the report.
ity-scale solar and wind power, Global Energy “The average size of prospective solar farm
Monitor found that Arabic-speaking countries phases in the region is more than four times that
are racing for renewables. of the rest of the world, and the average wind
Even leading oil producers such as Saudi Ara- farm size is more than one and a half times that
bia, UAE and Algeria are increasingly marking a of the rest of the world,” the monitor added.
shift from fossil fuels to embrace green energy. Oman, Morocco and Algeria, the region’s top
“At the epicentre of the oil economy a renew- three countries, are set to produce 39.7 GW from
ables boom is taking shape,” said Ingrid Behrsin, prospective projects, which is the equivalent of
project manager at Global Wind Power Tracker. more than four times the new gas-fired capacity
“This transformation should send a strong from the three countries
signal to the rest of the world that even oil Morocco is notably expected to produce an
and gas-producing countries are embracing additional 14.4 GW from solar and wind energy
renewables.” over the next five years – six times the capacity
The Arab world’s “stunning” shift towards of the country’s prospective gas projects. These
renewables is further supported by the region’s large-scale extensions in renewable power make
“tremendous potential for wind and solar devel- Morocco the Arab country with the second-larg-
opment,” argued Kasandra O’Malia, project est forecasted solar and wind capacity additions.
manager for the Global Solar Power Tracker. ™

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 30•June•2022