MOROCCO – Enel Green Power, an Italian multinational renewable energy corporation has signed a draft agreement to promote energy transition in Morocco with the president of the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS).

The two parties are committed to collaborating in the field of renewable energy development, through developing joint analytical research, conferences, seminars, round-table meetings, and expertise exchange.

In a joint statement, President of PCNS Karim El Aynaoui and country manager of Enel Green Power (EGP) Werther Esposito said that the agreement marks the start of a fruitful partnership.

They said, they intend to use their respective expertise to promote the development of renewable energy and energy transition in Morocco, and across the African continent.

The Policy Center for the New South is a Moroccan think tank based in Rabat aiming to contribute to an enriched reflection on key economic and international relations issues.

 “The OCP Policy Center aims to provide a meaningful policy-making contribution through its four research programs: Agriculture, Environment and Food Security, Economic and Social Development, Commodity Economics and Finance, Geopolitics and International Relation,” reads a description from the think tank website.

EGP on the other hand, is dedicated to the development and management of energy production from various renewable sources including solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro power.

Morocco has made notable development in the field of scientific research related to the energy sector, particularly renewable energy.

Among the leaps in progress, was the reduction of Morocco’s reliance on foreign countries for electricity from 98% to 92% thanks to the national energy strategy adopted in 2009.

Morocco has an ambitious goal of reaching 42% of electricity production by the end of 2020 and 52% by 2030.

To achieve its high aspirations, Morocco has heavily invested in solar energy through the world’s 2nd largest solar plant, the Noor Ouarzazate project and the soon to be constructed Noor Midelt I.

The Noor-Ouarzazate complex was built on an area of more than 3,000 hectares with an investment of US$400 million loans from the World Bank and an additional US$216 million from the Clean Technology Fund.