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Rabat – As Morocco is heading towards an increasingly green future, the country has, reportedly, shown interest in a new generation of hydrogen-powered trains produced by Alstom.
The revolutionary new mode of transport uses carbon-free technology, producing the electricity on-board using a hydrogen-powered fuel tank. The new technology could be one of the means to help Morocco pivot towards a carbon-free economy.
The French daily Le Monde quoted director-general of Alstom Morocco, Brahim Soua, who noted that “potential customers have come forward in the United Kingdom, in the Netherlands, in Belgium, in Denmark, in Spain, [and] in Morocco.”
Not only can the trains produce their own electricity on-board, but they also have “dual-mode” trainsets which would also allow the train to connect to electrified railway lines.
Read also: Morocco’s Green Energy Efforts Are ‘Lighting up the Continent’
Morocco is one of the French company’s major clients. Alstom supplied the North African country with high-speed trains, as well as tram trains for the biggest cities like Rabat and Casablanca. The company has provided 66 trams to Rabat, 124 trams to Casablanca, and 12 Avelia Euroduplex trains for the high-speed line between Tangier and Casablanca.
Furthermore, in Morocco Alstom also produces railway cables and electrical boxes which are sent to its European factories, and then mounted on trains to be sold worldwide.
Earlier in the year, Moroccan Minister of Energy, Mines, and Environment Aziz Rabbah celebrated Morocco’s efforts in the field of green energy during a virtual ministerial meeting.
Rabbah underlined a series of government initiatives in the field of renewable energy and green hydrogen. Among them was the creation in 2019 of a National Hydrogen Commission and the development of a national roadmap for hydrogen energy.
In June 2020, Morocco and Germany signed a joint agreement that will enable Morocco to build Africa’s first plant for the production of green gas. The bilateral partnership aims to set up necessary structures and to advance scientific research in the production of green hydrogen.
