Renewable Energy as a Vector for the Strengthening of Technical and Financial Cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean Region: The Case of Morocco

INTRODUCTION 
The future of energy security in the Mediterranean region relies on the deployment
and development of renewable energy sources. Southern and Eastern Mediterranean
countries (SEMCs) are endowed with a huge solar and wind energy potential. Tapping
into this potential could bring various benefits to the Mediterranean region, such as
meeting the rising energy demand at a lower cost, reducing energy bills in importing
countries, creating new jobs, alleviating energy poverty, improving the quality of the
environment as well as enhancing cooperation both among the SEMCs and between the
SEMCs and the European Union. 
Given its need to import over 80% of its oil and over 60% of its natural gas, the
European Union has been facing growing competition for fossil fuel resources over the
last few decades. As a result, a new directive on the development of renewable energy
was adopted in 2009 with the aim of establishing a common European framework for
the promotion of renewable sources of energy. With this objective in mind, the
European Commission is currently looking into the strategic importance of the Southern
Mediterranean regarding both energy supply and energy transit through the region.
However, the Mediterranean basin continues to lag far behind most other regions in the
world in terms of solar and wind energy deployment. 
Morocco is a pioneer among Southern Mediterranean countries in establishing a
policy for the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency. In order to face an
almost total dependence on imported fossil fuels, the country adopted in 2009 a new
energy strategy aiming to strengthen the role of alternative sources of energy, mainly
solar and wind power, in the national energy mix. As a consequence, a new regulatory
framework for the promotion of renewable energy was introduced and two major
initiatives were launched in order to reach the national target of increasing the share of
renewable energy in the national energy consumption to 42% in 2020.
Economic development and population growth have led Morocco to a large increase
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in its total energy consumption over the last two decades. With its limited conventional
sources, Morocco depends almost entirely upon imports for its provision of modern
energy sources such as oil, coal and gas. With the adoption of the new energy strategy,
the country has confirmed its ambitions to reduce its almost total dependence on
imported fossil fuels, while contributing to reinforce its ambitions to pave the way for a
more sustainable development. 
In Morocco as well as globally, the energy sector is one of the major drivers of
climate change and socio-economic inequalities. The transition towards renewable
energy could bring a number of wide ranging benefits in environmental, economic and
social terms. In addition to promoting energy security and reducing the national energy
bill, renewable energy deployment can help Morocco mitigate the effects of climate
change on its national economy, alleviate poverty and social inequalities especially in
rural areas, benefit the local economy through the creation of new jobs, boost social
development and community participation as well as benefit human health. 
With the adoption of the new energy strategy, the portion covered by renewable
energies should go up to 42%, thus reducing the role of fossil fuels to 58% of the
national capacity for power generation. This percentage should be composed by an
equal contribution of the three most relevant non-conventional sources of energy.
Therefore, water, solar and wind power are expected to take up 14% each of the total
national capacity, with a consistent reduction in the role of hydropower, which is
frequently affected by long periods of drought, as well as a rapid rise in importance of
solar and wind power, which Morocco possesses a largely exploitable potential of.
The new energy strategy could not have been implemented without the introduction
of a wide range of national accompanying measures aiming to support and promote the
development of renewable energies. The government of Morocco has succeeded in
establishing a new regulatory framework, with the adoption of new laws and the
creation of new institutional and financial institutions in order to reorganize the national
energy sector, provide it with an appropriate system of governance and put a national
scheme for the implementation of renewable energy projects into practice. 
Considering the high potential for power production from wind and solar energy
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sources two large-scale projects have been launched recently: the Moroccan Integrated
Wind Energy Project and the Moroccan Solar Plan. These projects aim to reinforce the
capacity of Morocco to produce energy from national resources, reduce the dependence
of the country on imported energy and preserve the environment. More specifically,
they are thought to help the country accomplish the main objective of the new energy
strategy: increase the contribution of renewable energy in the national energy
consumption. 
In particular, the Moroccan Solar Plan offers great opportunities for the strengthening
of deeper regional interconnections with European countries. With an average of more
than 3,000 hours per year of sunlight and a solar radiation of nearly 5 kWh/m
2 
per day
averagely, solar energy is expected to become the starting point for deeper integration in
the Euro-Mediterranean region. This integration would allow Morocco to receive
financial support as well as advanced technologies in order to better develop its national
potential for energy production from alternative sources, wind and sun in particular, as
well as use its strategic position to export the quantity of electricity in excess to
European countries in the future.                                            
The present study seeks to determine whether and to what extent Morocco’s
transition towards renewable energy and energy efficiency could reinforce the strategic
role of the country within a renovated Euro-Mediterranean system in which the
countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean are becoming increasingly
important to European countries for the definition of common strategies to face current
socio-economic and environmental challenges. 
By outlining the main aspects of the Moroccan energy strategy, this study therefore
aims to explore the potentialities of a EU-Morocco energy partnership based on
renewable energies. With its advanced legal framework regulating the energy sector and
its large-scale projects for electricity production from renewable sources, especially
solar energy, Morocco has in fact the potential to contribute to the satisfaction of the
European energy needs. The EU-Morocco energy partnership would bring benefits to
both sides and would ultimately contribute to the strengthening of a more inclusive and
egalitarian regional partnership mainly based on financial support and technical
assistance.
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The first chapter basically presents the main aspects of the Moroccan energy
situation, in order to understand the context in which the government of Morocco
decided to launch a new energy policy based on the promotion of alternative sources of
energy with the main goal of reducing the dependence of the country on fossil fuel
importations. 
The second chapter examines the objectives as well as the strategic orientations of
the new Moroccan energy strategy. It also introduces renewable energy as a means to
face the main challenges that have been affecting the Moroccan energy sector over the
last few decades. Within this context, the new regulatory framework as well as the
major renewable energy projects which have been implemented by the government are
analysed. 
The third chapter analyses Morocco’s renewable energy potentialities for the
reinforcement of the EU-Morocco energy cooperation as well as on the country’s
strategic role in establishing a Euro-Mediterranean energy community, focusing on the
specific policies which have been enforced in order to establish a more inclusive energy
partnership in the Euro-Mediterranean region. This partnership could represent the key
factor for a more integrated technical and financial approach in the region. 
Finally, the fourth chapter provides an example of how Morocco has succeeded in
implementing solar energy technologies at a national level. The Program for the
Development of the Moroccan Market for Solar Water Heaters (PROMASOL) has been
in fact fundamental for the development of a national solar energy market and it could
become a positive model for neighbouring Mediterranean countries which aim to foster
the renewable energy sector. 
The accomplishment of this work has required a variety of relevant sources of
information.  A number of governmental and institutional documents were primarily
used to gather information and data. Scientific articles as well as academic works were
also consulted. Finally, several legislative texts as well as information taken from
official websites provided additional accuracy to the content of this work.
Most research has been conducted during a ten-month period of study (from 15
th
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September 2016 to 15
th
 July 2016) at the Faculty of Juridical, Economic and Social
Sciences of Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakesh, in the framework of the Erasmus
Mundus ‘Battuta’ Programme financed by the European Commission and dedicated to
the development of relations between Europe and North Africa through mobilities
between the two regions.
Field research was made possible thanks to the support of Cadi Ayyad University and
in particular of the Professor Noureddine El-Bouazizi who allowed me to attend a series
of sessions about green economy and sustainable development in Morocco at the Centre
for Doctoral Studies of the Faculty of Juridical, Economic and Social Sciences. Contacts
were also made with several PhD students of Cadi Ayyad University specializing in
renewable energy development in Morocco as well as with the National Agency for the
Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ADEREE) based in Rabat. 
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CHAPTER I
Morocco: the national energy
situation
Abstract
This chapter is going to outline the main aspects of the Moroccan energy situation in
order to set the basis for an analysis of the new energy strategy that the Moroccan
government adopted in 2009 with the main goal of reducing the dependence of the
country on fossil fuel importations. 
In order to better understand the context in which the energy situation of Morocco
finds itself in, the first section of this chapter analyses the global energy perspectives
and the most relevant energy issues which are affecting our world. Two elements are
presented as possible solutions for this challenging scenario, namely the development of
a global governance of energy and the shift towards a more sustainable world through
the implementation of energy efficiency and the introduction of renewable energies as
alternative sources of energy.  
After this overview, the chapter focuses on the Moroccan energy situation. The
second section is divided into two paragraphs. The first paragraph provides some
general information about the political, economic and social situation of Morocco. An
analysis of the reforms that the Moroccan government has undertaken over the last few
years is conducted, in order to describe the engagement of the country for a new
integrated approach towards sustainable development. The second paragraph examines
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the current national energy situation focusing on data and graphics, in order to
understand the context in which the government of Morocco decided to launch a new
strategy mainly based on the promotion of alternative sources of energy.
 
1.1 Global energy perspectives 
Nowadays we are facing a period of drastic change in the international energy
framework. The future of energy represents a new, crucial challenge all over the world
and it is necessary for every country to start thinking about the consequences that such a
change could provoke both at the national and the international level. The current
energy scenario can be summarized as follows: 
 for almost a century and a half we have lived in a period characterized by cheap
and abundant sources of energy. This situation is facing a change: we are
experiencing a shift towards a world in which energy will be increasingly rarer
and more expensive; 
 the issue of energy is inextricably connected to the issues of climate change and
environment protection, which occupy most of the international and national
strategic agendas on energy; 
 we live in a world which has become completely global: the process of
globalization has touched every aspect of our life, including energy. Therefore,
the energy policies adopted by governments have to take into consideration the
challenges faced by the international system as a whole.
1
 
Even though the situation differs from country to country, we can affirm that today
almost 80% of the world's energy demand is satisfied by fossil fuels. This means that
current global energy consumption is still dependent on non-renewable sources like
coal, crude oil and natural gas.
2
 
This situation is not expected to change in the short run. In fact, according to the
World Energy Outlook 2014, a report written on the basis of a study carried out every
1 Royaume du Maroc - Haut Commissariat au Plan, Prospective Maroc 2030 – Actes du séminaire
Prospective énergétique du Maroc. Enjeux et défis, 2005, p. 11, in http://www.hcp.ma/file/104420/.
2 Ibid. 
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