The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development (METSD) are joining forces to accelerate the decarbonisation of the electricity sector in Morocco.
In a Memorandum of Understanding – signed in Marrakech today by Her Excellency Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, and Nandita Parshad, EBRD Managing Director for Sustainable Infrastructure – the Bank and the METSD agreed to deepen their cooperation to help move Morocco’s green energy transition forward.
Cooperation will focus on accelerating renewable energy deployment, strengthening the electricity network, rolling out energy efficiency solutions across sectors and developing an open and well-functioning electricity market.
As part of this MoU, the EBRD and METSD will support Morocco’s public power utility, the Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau potable (ONEE), in its decarbonisation efforts, as well as strengthen ONEE’s resilience, notably through implementation of Law 48-15 on electricity market regulation. Joint work will cover a number of common long-term strategic interests, including putting in place a carbon neutral trajectory and gradually phasing out fossil fuel assets over the next decades.
Morocco is recognised as having one of the region’s most ambitious strategies for scaling up renewables and pioneering green technologies. For over a decade the EBRD has been supporting the decarbonisation of the Moroccan energy sector and its green energy transition through direct and indirect financing and policy dialogue, making the EBRD the most active international financial institution supporting green investments in the Moroccan private sector.
HE Leila Benali said: “We are very pleased to announce this cooperation with our long-standing partner the EBRD, which comes at a crucial time for our relationship with our European partners, in line with the Green Partnership signed by Morocco. This is all the more important given the ambitious investment programme that is being carried out by our national utility company ONEE, and its corporate transformation. This MoU will support a key element of our strategy: reinforce the grids and ensure long-term sustainable financing in agile and robust energy systems.”
Nandita Parshad commented: “In the wake of the climate emergency, Morocco has been at the forefront of the continent’s climate effort and is now taking steps to put the country on a sustainable path, using both climate adaptation and mitigation technologies. Today, by signing this MoU, we strengthen an already vibrant cooperation on energy transition. We welcome the Ministry’s commitment to decarbonising the electricity sector and focusing on the goal of carbon neutrality.” Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and became a beneficiary of Bank resources in 2012. To date the EBRD has invested €4.2 billion in the country through 95 projects.
