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Join on Telegram Rabat – Amsterdam-based renewable energy producer Lekela Power eyes Morocco as a potential market given the country’s promising renewables and green hydrogen offers.
In an interview with The Africa Report, Lekela CEO Chris Antonopoulos stated that the Africa-focused group expects to triple in size over the next three to four years after its recent acquisition by Cairo-based renewable energy solutions provider Infinity Group and Nigeria-based pan-African development company Africa Finance Corporation.
Lekela operates a 2.8 Gigawatt (GW) portfolio including seven wind farms in South Africa, Senegal, and Egypt in addition to Ghana’s Ayitepa project that remains under development.
Today, five of the company’s wind projects are based in South Africa. Despite Cape Town’s persistent bias for coal, the country’s recent power cuts are making the government turn to solar power to maintain energy security, Antonopoulos told Bloomberg earlier this month.
As South Africa tries to gain ground in the renewable energy market, Lekela is exploring potential growth opportunities in other African countries including Morocco, Tunisia, and Kenya, says The Africa Report.
Read Also: Prospects for Wind Energy in Southern Morocco and Northern Mauritania
Earlier this month, UAE’s Masdar, Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities, and Lekela’s new owner Infinity Group agreed to develop a 10 gigawatt (GW) onshore wind project in Egypt on the sidelines of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27).
In addition, Lekela is developing a 250 megawatt (MW) wind power farm in Egypt with the project’s financial closure expected for 2023 and early 2024. The project located near the Red Sea is set to take two years to build.
As the group capitalizes on the global shift towards low-carbon and carbo-free solutions, Africa and the Middle East are working on attracting the support of multinationals, developed countries, and international organizations to advance their decarbonization and energy transition agenda.
Egypt’s growing renewables market, which was recently boosted by the hosting of COP 27 in Sharm El Sheikh, reflects the regional interest in investing in low-carbon and clean solutions with Morocco, another North African country, offering solid infrastructure for investors interested in Africa’s abundant solar and wind energy.
Cairo and Rabat’s co-launch of the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance highlights the interest of both countries in developing exemplary renewable projects as well as large-scale green hydrogen projects.
In Morocco, the governmental support for the decarbonization agenda has been key in attracting the attention and support of numerous multinationals including Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, India’s Adani Group, and Egypt’s Hassan Allam Holding.
Thanks to such investments, Morocco is likely to fulfill its decarbonization goals as well as complete its energy transition. By 2050, Rabat expects to boost the share of electricity generated from renewable energy in the total energy mix to 80%.
