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Rabat – Preparations for the launch of the “Jbel Lahdid-270 MW wind farm” project in Morocco’s Essaouira have started.
According to meeting discussions, held on Wednesday at the headquarters of the prefecture, with various public and private partners; work on the project is scheduled to start next week. The estimated completion time of 25 to 26 months should allow the project to be ready in 2023.
“Lights are green to start,” said the governor of the province, Adil El Maliki, during the meeting, stressing the strict respect of the project deadline.
The “Jbel Lahdid” wind farm will make Essaouira 100% supplied with renewable energy. Thus, the project will require an investment of nearly MAD 3 billion ($328 million), and will generate 270 MW through roughly fifty turbines.
The energy yield of this project amounts to 900 GWH/year, contributing to the increase to 5GW of planned installed wind power capacity in Morocco by 2030.
The project will also create 300 to 400 temporary jobs during construction and more than 20 permanent jobs during the operation phase.
This Essaouira-270 MW wind farm is part of the 850 MW integrated wind farms program that joins together the “Midelt-210 MW”, “Boujdour-300 MW”, “Jbel Lahdid-270 MW”, and “Tiskrad- Tarfaya-100 MW” wind farms.
The new wind farm should bring Morocco towards its objective to achieve 52% renewable energy goal by 2030.
British audit firm Ernst & Young (EY) released its October 2021 list of the top 40 nations with the most viable potential for sustainable energy investment and development, and placed Morocco as the most attractive location for renewable energy investments in the MENA region.
Confirming the firm’s findings, World Bank senior energy specialist Mark Leybourne noted in 2020 that Morocco has a “fantastic” offshore wind resource “that is too attractive to ignore.” The specialist stressed that Morocco has great potential for developing its wind energy capacity, suggesting that the North African country is poised to become a key supplier of energy to the European market.
