Morocco Invested ‘Equivalent of Togo’s GDP’ in Renewables in 2021

Rabat – Morocco invested $5.8 billion in renewables in 2021, the equivalent of Togo’s GDP for 2020, said REN21 in its latest report on the Renewables 2022 Global Status.

Morocco is widely known for its ambitious yet achievable renewable energy goals that seek to increase the share of renewable energy in power generation to 52% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.

Moroccan targets extend to the other economic activities, with set goals for economic-wide renewable energy contribution to reach 52% by 2025 and 64% by 2030.

The North African country also seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to reach net-zero goals in Rabat, Benslimane, and Chefchaouen.

Morocco is notably a leading country in the MENA region – along with Jordan and Israel – in terms of renewable share in total final energy consumption, said the report. It is also a regional leader, along with Iran and Egypt, in renewable installed capacity.

In 2021, the Kingdom increased its installed capacity by 0.6 GW to reach 4 GW – “enough to power Zambia,” according to the report. This made Morocco the 57th country with the largest installed capacity for renewable energy in the world, the report added.

The North African country is competing in this category with global leaders including China which topped the list ahead of the US, Brazil, India, and Germany.

Morocco also ranked 55th globally in the renewable share in total final energy consumption, at the end of 2019, which put the country way behind the top listers like Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Tajikistan, and Brazil.

As Morocco works on advancing its renewable energy capacity as well as decarbonizing its industries to reach net-zero goals by 2030, the country is currently facing an energy crisis.

This year, the “global clean energy transition is not happening” due to the global stagnation in the overall share of renewables in the world’s final energy consumption, the REN21 report stated, noting that this percentage had “minimally” grown from 10.6% in 2009 to 11.7% in 2019.

While many experts hoped that the green transition would be blooming following the pandemic, the REN21 found that the economic rebound in 2021 raised final energy consumption by 4%, “offsetting the growth of renewables.”

The report further said that renewables have had a low share in the final energy consumption as of 2019, with the use of green energy limited to only 11.2% for heating and cooling, 3.7% for transport, and 28% for power use.

These three sectors represent the main energy uses with heating and cooling continuing to account for 51% of total final energy consumption ahead of transport (32%) and power (17%).

While global energy consumption is increasing, the global commitment to a net-zero target initiated during COP 26 was proven to be insufficient to concretize policies that can help reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and cut the countries’ reliance on fossil fuels.

REN21 noted, for instance, that only 84 of the 135 committed countries had economy-wide targets for renewable energy while only 36 of them had targets for 100% renewables.

The current energy crisis that started at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and was exacerbated by the war in Ukraine provides an additional challenge to the green energy transition.

While European countries have committed to the REPowerEU project in response to the energy crisis, “most countries [including EU countries] have gone back to seeking out new sources of fossil fuels and to burning even more coal, oil, and [the debatably green energy transition source] natural gas,” said Rana Adib, REN21 Executive Director.

As countries worldwide aim to reach “greater energy autonomy and security,” stated Spanish Vice President Teresa Ribera, “the energy transition is our lifeline.”