Page 10 - AfrElec Week 09 2022
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AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec
Morocco invests $942mn in
water, energy projects in 2021
MOROCO THE Moroccan government spent a combined reached 851GWh, which makes up 2% of total
MAD9bn ($942mn) on water and energy pro- production.
jects in 2021, according to the National Office The projects also helped to increase renewa-
of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE), with ble energies’ share in the country’s power capac-
some slightly more allocated to energy projects ity, with a share of 4.5% in solar production (up
than water projects. 20% y/y in 2021) and 12.4% for wind power gen-
The projects aim to develop the generation, eration (up 11% y/y in 2021).
transmission and distribution capacities neces- The ONEE built 11 water treatment plants,
sary to meet increasing demand for electricity, including four extensions, and implemented a
fresh water, and water sanitation. 260km of wastewater treatment network. The
Among the energy projects finalized last year water projects helped increase access to drink-
are Zagoura and Missour’s photovoltaic power ing water in rural areas from 97.8% at the end of
stations as well as Oualidia’s wind farm. The pro- 2020 to 98.2% at the end of 2021. The ONEE also
jects helped the installed electricity power rise started to implement the digital transformation
to 10.9MW by the end of December 2021 up roadmap for the water sector as a part of World
from 10.6 MW a year earlier. Electricity exports Bank financing scheme.
Cape Town soon to be load
shedding-free city, mayor says
SOUTH AFRICA CAPE Town is well on its way to becoming Town’s economy and businesses, and alleviating
South Africa’s first “load shedding-free city” and poverty, requires a stable electricity supply.
reducing its reliance on the indebted power util- “We are particularly eager for proposals from
ity Eskom. IPPs that help us reduce reliance on Eskom dur-
This follows an announcement by Mayor ing peak times of use and thereby eliminate load
Gordon Hill-Lewis in mid-February at the shedding,” Mayor Hill-Lewis said, as quoted by
Solar Power Africa Conference that the city has News24.
launched a 300MW renewable energy procure- Cape Town uses some 2,000MW of power
ment tender for Independent Power Producers per day. Renewable energy such as solar costs
(IPPs). far less than the cost of electricity generated by
In a speech, the mayor said that growing Cape Eskom, the mayor said.
P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 03•March•2022
