Morocco: Solar projects make progress as energy mix expands

The government’s ambitious plan to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to supply new power plants across northern and central Morocco is part of a wider strategy to develop a sustainable, diversified and secure energy mix, led by a project to install 2GW of solar and 2GW of wind capacity by 2020. Officials say that adding coal and gas baseload is essential not just for energy security and industrial development, but also to enlarge state utility Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE)’s grid, which by 2020 will have to carry much greater amounts of renewable energy.