Marruecos genera suficiente energía eólica para cubrir sus necesidades 17 veces

Morocco generates enough wind power to meet its energy demand up to 17.3 times. Windmills located in the Strait of Gibraltar and the southern Atlantic coast offer the highest levels of wind energy production. Despite the good results, the Alawi kingdom aims to increase its production capacity by 4.2GW by 2030.

However, Morocco has not confirmed concrete targets for offshore wind energy production. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) highlighted in a report that the Kingdom has "high-powered floating offshore wind offers" that can be of great use in reducing dependence on fossil fuels - oil, gas, coal - and reaching the Net Zero target by 2050.

The ambition to increase wind energy production once again demonstrates the Moroccan government's commitment to the green energy transition, making the country "stand out as a market to watch", said Maf Smith, vice chair of GWEC's Offshore Floating Offshore Wind Working Group.

The North African country not only has the largest wind farm in Africa, located in Tarfaya, but also has a huge capacity to produce offshore wind energy in the Strait of Gibraltar and the southern part of the Atlantic coast, an area where wind speeds average more than 10km per second.

However, Gibraltar's maritime traffic and the many stakeholders make logistical work difficult, on the other hand, the port of Agadir offers a good logistical base and access to grid links.

Despite the good results achieved in wind energy production, Morocco aims to increase its capacity through the Integrated Wind Energy Programme, which was adopted in 2010. The strategy aims to gradually increase national wind power production, starting with 1GW by 2024 and up to 4.2GW by 2030. If achieved, wind energy would contribute to achieving the overall renewable energy targets of 52% by the end of the decade.

The GWEC reported that, thanks to its wind potential, Morocco is part of a "chasing pack" of markets that could drive the new wave of floating wind power growth.

The package of producing countries consists of Morocco, Italy, Ireland, the Philippines, and the United States for production located on the Pacific coast. Between them they have a total potential of 3,861GW. Scott Urquhart, the managing director of Aegir Insights and co-author of the report, said the five countries are aiming to catch up with the world leaders in offshore wind, including the UK, South Korea and Japan.

In recent years, Morocco has been among the world's 30 leading countries in the offshore wind market. This situation has been achieved thanks to the country's legal context and the natural resources available to the Kingdom. In Africa, the list of potential offshore wind market leaders only includes Morocco in first place, South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt and Kenya, according to the GWEC.