Morocco’s bold play at renewing their energy blend

As the winds of change blow through the MENA region, Morocco is pushing to harvest the energy of the sun and the wind. At a time when Western attempts at making renewable energy a success are only producing negative headlines (example here & here) Morocco is playing the hand it was dealt.

As the only country in North Africa that does not have oil resources, Morocco must import 95% of its energy. In 2009, Morocco spent $7.3 billion on fuel and electricity imports, and the demand is set to quadruple by 2030. This has left Morocco with a strong set of incentives to aggressively expand its renewable energy capacity, and the government set an ambitious goal of 42% of energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. That’s more than double the commitment made by the more traditional climate-friendly European countries.