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Rabat – Leila Benali, Morocco’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, said on Monday that Morocco has two sources to supply the national market with natural gas.
Speaking at the House of Representatives in Rabat, Benali emphasized the first source is linked to national production while the second concerns natural gas supplied by the Maghreb Europe gas pipeline.
The second source was not supplying the national market with gas but rather was used exclusively in the production of electricity at the Tahadart plant, near Tangier, and the Ain Beni Mathar plant in the eastern province, Benali argued.
The minister emphasized that the energy ministry has launched consultations with regional and international actors to set up a sustainable and efficient system for the management of national supplies of natural gas.
“In recent days, the supply has been able to meet the demand for energy, although these two stations were not in service, focusing on the established national capacity, in addition to the decrease in demand for electricity due to the pandemic,” she argued.
Benali’s statement comes on the heels of mounting concerns regarding Algeria’s decision to terminate the Maghreb Europe gas pipeline on October 31.
The pipeline, which had been operating since 1996, was supplying Spain with gas through Morocco.
The Algerian regime cited “hostile” acts from Morocco to terminate the contract amid growing conflict between the two countries.
In response, Morocco’s government has reassured citizens that the termination of the contract will not impact the country’s electricity production, emphasizing it has “been taking all the necessary measures” to meet the Moroccan market’s energy needs.
Benali additionally confirmed that “the supply of the national market with butane gas, which is used in particular for domestic and agricultural uses, has nothing to do” with the Europe-Maghreb pipeline.
“The needs of the national market supplies are regularly supplied through importation by the various ports of the Kingdom,” she said.
The minister announced that Morocco is putting in place several programs to implement the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity with the generalization in the rural sector.
She also said that the ministry is working on the completion of projects and programs planned as part of the multi-year plan for electrical equipment by 2030, which is mainly based on the development of local resources and energies.
“Additional electricity needs will be developed by relying mainly on wind and solar renewable energies, with the programming and development of an additional capacity that exceeds 4 megawatts, or 90% of the additional capacity, and a single natural gas thermal power plan” for the first period of 2021-2025, the minister added.
Morocco also intends to adopt a green plan based on 100% renewable resources, with the objective of achieving additional capacity of about 5,200 megawatts by 2026-2030.
The minister concluded that Morocco has succeeded in the effective and efficient implementation of its sustainable and competitive energy strategy.
