Green hydrogen projects in Morocco need land, government offers 1 million hectares
March 13, 2024The government of Morocco is throwing its support behind green H2 development in the nation.
It’s reportedly doing so by allocating one million hectares (2.5 million acres) of public lands to develop green hydrogen. This is part of a new policy designed to back Morocco’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions as well as to make the nation a contender in the global market.
A leader in the field of energy transition.
According to the Moroccan government, the North African country could “play a major role” in the global energy transition. For starters, it is home to plenty of sunlight all year long and is a chief producer of solar energy. What’s more, due to how closely it is located to Europe, it seeks to increase clean power supply to the continent.
Boosting the development of green hydrogen via the “Morocco Offer” – a program recently launched by Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch – is another way the country plans to contribute as a key player in the global transition to clean energy.
Green hydrogen development via the Morocco Offer.
The Morocco Offer is a program that marks the country’s commitment to cover the full value chain of the green H2 industry. The aim is to provide incentives (not yet specified) to investors. In addition to boosting green hydrogen development, the plan focuses on competitive infrastructure that follows the best international standards for planning, deploying, developing and maintaining green hydrogen solutions and meeting the requirements of the green H2 industry.
Ultimately, the goal of the newly announced Morocco Offer is to bring in investments to produce renewable hydrogen and its derivatives through electrolysis and green energy, with the resulting product being supplied domestically or exported.
300,000 hectares will be provided to start.
The first stage of this new green hydrogen development plan is to provide private investors with a total of 300,000 hectares (741,319 acres) of plots of land. This will range from 10,000 to 30,000 hectares, depending on the needs of the expected projects.
According to the government of Morocco, nearly 100 domestic and international investors are interested in generating green hydrogen in the nation.
Does Morocco truly have a shot at becoming a major green H2 producer?
There’s no denying that the country possesses an abundance of solar and wind power resources. On top of that, its currently home to the Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, the world’s largest concentrated solar project, with over 500 MW of capacity. Moreover, it aims to produce more than half (52%) of its electricity from renewable power by the end of the decade. In addition to this ambitious target, Morocco hopes to achieve local annual hydrogen demand for 5 TWh and exports of 10 TWh by 2030.
However, though definitely a promising clean energy partner to Europe and the rest of the world, it’s still early days for large-scale green hydrogen development anywhere in the globe.
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