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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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Morocco's monthly imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Spain-Morocco interconnection increased by over 167% at the end of April.
Moroccan Minister of Energy Leila Benali shared the new data with MPs at the House of Councillors on May 2, stressing the country’s efforts to accelerate investments in gas infrastructure.
Morocco has over the past year increased its purchases of gas from Spain through the Maghreb Europe pipeline to meet the country’s demand.
Commenting on Morocco’s efforts to ensure self-efficiency in energy, Benali said that the program accelerating investments in the sector “has been expected since 2009.”
She emphasized that the volume of pirate sector investment in this area ranges between MAD 4 ($399.49 million) and 8 billion ($799 million) in the short term.
Benali argued that being able to access the international natural gas market makes it possible to boost the renewable energies sector in a bid to abandon fossil fuels and decarbonization of electricity to reduce energy bills.
He also shared statistics on renewable energies, stressing that the Moroccan government has granted permits for several projects with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts.
“This is the largest capacity authorized by the ministry in one year,” she said, noting that several new initiatives and programs have been developed to supply industrial zones with clean electrical energy.
Morocco’s renewable energy policy has been receiving plaudits from international partners that commended the country’s sectoral assets.
The vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) told Morocco World News in March that Morocco has “perfect conditions” to reach autonomy and cushion its economy from future shocks that could spill over into the energy markets.
“Morocco is very advanced, the share of renewables and in particular wind power in Morocco’s energy mix is well above natural gas,” the EIB official said.
Being home to several solar power plants, Morocco has committed to increasing the share of its green energy to 70% by 2040 and 80% by 2050. By 2030, Morocco seeks to produce over 52% of its electricity from renewable resources.
