Dakhla will host an 8 gigawatt green hydrogen plant to power industry
The Polish company Green Capital Group, which specialises in renewable energy production, has unveiled its new flagship project: an 8 gigawatt green hydrogen production plant to be built in the Moroccan city of Dakhla.
The construction period is five years and the company opened a subsidiary in Casablanca last April to manage the project.
According to statements made to Le360 by Houssam Abou-Otmane, the site of the plant has already been identified and the budget is being finalised. The subsidiary's director stressed that Green Capital was attracted by Morocco's huge wind and solar potential, its business security and its proximity to Europe.
The aim of the plant is to produce electricity by renewable means, to be sold to industrial consumers via medium-voltage lines.
In addition to the Dakhla project, Green Capital is looking for locations in the regions of Tangier, Oriental, Marrakech-Safi, Taza, Fez and Laayoune, the latter of which have enormous wind energy potential.
According to Abou-Otmane, Green Capital is finalising feasibility studies in these regions before initiating the acquisition process and submitting authorisation applications to the Ministry of Energy Transition, with an expected timeframe of around five years.
Morocco, key to the future of the energy sector
These new projects confirm the Kingdom of Morocco's commitment to renewable energies. In recent years, investment in projects related to green hydrogen, considered the best alternative to fossil fuels and whose demand is set to skyrocket in the coming years, has increased.
According to a report by the European Conservatives, the EU is planning major investments in solar and green hydrogen projects in Morocco, Egypt and southern Africa.
The European Investment Bank estimates that the African continent's green hydrogen production capacity could represent an investment opportunity of up to one trillion euros.
Estimates suggest that Africa will reach an annual production capacity of 50 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2035, at a price of just two dollars per kilogramme.
Another study, in this case by the German Fraunhofer Institute for applied scientific research, points out that Morocco is establishing itself as a major player in the European green hydrogen market, with the potential to become a key supplier for the continent, capable of supplying up to 5% of Europe's green hydrogen energy needs.
With investments of around 16.4 billion euros, Morocco aims to reach a total production of 160 terawatt hours of green hydrogen by 2050, which would make it a key player in the transition to sustainable energy.