Morocco allocates land for green hydrogen projects

The Moroccan government said it will allocate 1 million hectares of land for the production of renewable energies, green hydrogen and its derivatives, including green ammonia.

The authorities will initially allocate 300,000 hectares to be divided into lots of 10,000 to 30,000 hectares, depending on the size of the planned projects.

The government said it will assign the land to private investors and will track the development of the projects. It has reportedly received several expressions of interest from around 100 national and international investors. The first preliminary contracts could be signed by the third quarter of 2024, it said.

In an interview with the Medi1 television channel, Laila Benali, the minister of energy transition, noted the importance of private investments for the country, which needs to triple its annual investments in renewable energy and multiply its investments by five.

Benali said that Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) recently launched an investment plan of MAD 130 billion ($14.2 billion) to manufacture green fertilizer, launch renewable energy production, and develop seawater desalination projects.

Morocco wants to position itself as a global exporter of renewable hydrogen. Its domestic energy demand is estimated at around 4 TWh/year by 2030. Due to its proximity to Europe, it wants to position itself as a preferred supplier to the European Union, which could import 10 million tons of hydrogen by 2030.