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Final consumption of primary energy, which currently stands at around 0.4 tonne oil equivalent (TOE) per capita, is expected to reach 1.1 TOE/inhabitant by 2030, says the Moroccan center of economic conditions (CMC) in its latest monthly publication “Morocco Conjoncture”.
This level is becoming more and more similar to the situation in many emerging countries, notes the CMC in a statement on the publication of its latest issue on “Energy Efficiency: Leverage for Competitive Growth” and composed of several axes.
And to emphasize that “Morocco will have to face a strong expansion of the energy demand because of the economic dynamics, the transformations of the structure of production and the evolution of the standard of living”.
The strategy adopted to meet the expansion of demand, the same source continues, is divided into multiple programs aimed at optimizing the energy mix, taking into account the reality of the market and changes affecting the conditions of supply in this market.
The development of the energy efficiency sector is one of the priority areas of this strategy with the aim of consolidating growth and improving the competitiveness of companies, the CMC notes, noting that access to energy represents a major challenge for Morocco as for many countries in the world.
A significant research and investment effort has been deployed over the past 20 years by the country to develop existing energy resources and to discover new, clean ones, including renewable energies, the center says, adding that this is the perspective of the national energy strategy.
“However, it should be emphasized that renewable energies however depend on various climatic conditions and hazards (wind, sun, water, etc.). For Morocco, whose economy is heavily dependent on imports of energy products, the adoption of a policy aiming on the one hand to reduce this dependence and to improve energy efficiency and, on the other hand, to conserve and to boost the growth of its economy is needed,” he says.
In addition, the CMC indicates that Morocco, non-oil producing country, aims through its energy policy to reduce as much as possible its energy dependence while ensuring the security of its supply and the preservation of the environment.
“Many efforts have been made in this direction for almost a decade. An energy strategy to achieve these goals has been developed. This policy is centered on the control of ever-increasing energy consumption and its orientation towards other sources”, notes the same source, adding that in this perspective, the development of energy from solar, wind and hydroelectric sources holds more and more attention from the public authorities and a whole institutional mechanism (new regulations, management bodies, etc.) has been set up in order to better organize the activities of this sector.
In addition, the CMC has focused on interconnection which ensures the pooling of production capacities at different scales and allows savings while guaranteeing the supply of electricity.
“Morocco is interconnected in southern Europe and in the Maghreb. The exchanges with the last are weak. Export prospects to Europe exist but still difficult to exploit,” said the center, saying that the question of new interconnections to be established and their capabilities should be based on adequate criteria as it is essential to evaluate the potential of the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline mega-project.
Regarding the energy outlook, the CMC is highly dependent on external sources, with energy needs covered by 93% of the world’s supplies in 2017.
According to the reference scenario, domestic demand for primary energy would reach 39 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2028, he says. On another axis, the center is interested in the current global consumption model of energy, which has to face a major stake in the development of companies because of overconsumption of energy services by rich countries. This over-consumption accelerates the process of depletion of the most easily accessible energy resources, as is the case for oil.
In this context and in a correlated way, the impact on the environment is felt mainly by global warming, a consequence of the acceleration of greenhouse gas emissions. An energy-consuming model that thwarts sustainable development initiatives.
