The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Moroccan Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment (MEME) have signed an agreement to actively pursue green hydrogen studies and explore policy instruments to engage the private sector in the country’s green hydrogen economy.
Morocco is increasingly being recognised as a regional energy transition pioneer. The country has revised its renewable energy ambition with a decision to increase the share of total installed capacity to more than 52% by 2030. This exceeds the country’s objective announced at COP21 in Paris, France in 2015.
IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera commended the Kingdom of Morocco for showing great leadership to advance the deployment of renewable energy demand while creating new industrial opportunities across the country: “It is only natural that this leadership be extended to the pursuit of green hydrogen, which may play a critical role in global decarbonisation ambitions. Under this agreement, IRENA will work closely with Morocco to advance domestic ambition and create opportunities to share knowledge globally.”
Under the agreement IRENA and MEME will collaborate to develop technology and market outlook studies; craft public-private models of cooperation in the hydrogen space; explore the development of new hydrogen value chains; and lay the groundwork for the trading of green hydrogen at a national and regional level.
The two parties will also conduct joint analyses which further explore the socio-economic benefits of renewable. These should emphasise the development of new value chains, job creation at the national level and lessons learned to the broader region. Building on IRENA’s global mandate, Morocco wants to strengthen South-South Cooperation through peer to peer and expert exchange, knowledge sharing and the strengthening of regional initiatives.
Hydrogen to help Morocco increase renewable energy uptake
The Moroccan minister of energy, Aziz Rabbah, said: “Morocco has played an important role in global renewable energy cooperation through IRENA since the Agency’s formation and we will continue to promote and encourage the uptake of renewables in the context of climate change and sustainable development at a regional and an international level.”
Together with the European Commission, Morocco co-facilitated IRENA’s Collaborative Framework on Green Hydrogen earlier this year to address challenges in developing the infrastructure, technology and certification needed to shape a global green economy and lay the ground for green hydrogen trading.
According to IRENA, at the end of 2020, the Kingdom of Morocco had a total installed renewable energy capacity of almost 3.5GW.
Morocco’s foray into establishing a green hydrogen economy was one of the topics discussed in the Enlit Africa digital event session The role of Africa in the global hydrogen-generation market, now available to watch on-demand.
