Against a backdrop of soaring petroleum prices, the kingdom is eyeing renewable resources to ease its dependence on foreign power

AMAL HADDOUCHE General Director, Center for Renewable Energies

orocco spends a staggering $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year on energy from abroad to light homes, run businesses and keep vehicles moving. Now that imported energy accounts for more than 95 percent of power consumption, experts are adamant that the country exploit its renewable resources at home. Solar and wind power make the most sense for this North African nation – the sun casts some 3,000 hours of light each year in the south of the country and the blustery Atlantic coast offers ideal conditions for wind farms.

Amal Haddouche, General Director of the Center for Renewable Energies Development, says Morocco aims to produce a fifth of its electricity from renewable energies by 2012 and consume 10 percent of its energy from those resources by that date. Access and security continue to plague the energy supply, so authorities hope renewable energies can help ease that burden. At a recent gathering on energy in Rabat, Ms. Haddouche also called for an overhaul of building standards to complement these new energy sources.

According to the French-based International Energy Agency, renewable energy includes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides, geothermal heat and plant matter used as fuel. Wind, solar and marine energy together produce less than 1 percent of total world energy demand, the energy agency reports. Most renewable energy is in the form of biomass, such as wood burned as fuel. Hydropower is the next largest source, providing 2-3 percent, and modern technologies like geothermal, wind, solar, and marine energy together produce less than 1 percent of total world energy demand.

In March, European Union members convened to discuss energy consumption and pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. They also committed to producing an equal percentage of energy from renewable sources by the same year. Estimates put renewable energy at about 7 percent of European consumption, ahead of the 4 percent share in Morocco.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, Morocco quickly grasped that promoting clean energy policies would attract foreign investors. Just as the country has opened its doors to companies seeking oil and gas, it’s also seeking partnerships for renewable energy.

The German government-owned development bank KfW is involved in both solar and wind projects, backing a 2003 effort to bring as part of a rural electrification program, bringing power to some 16,000 families without prior access to electricity.

Ms. Haddouche points out that most of the potential for wind power lies in the south and north of the country, particularly along the Atlantic. Morocco’s installed wind power capacity in megawatts ranks 27th globally, according to the Brussels-based Global Energy Wind Council. Germany, Spain and the United States combined account for more than half of the wind generating capacity, possessing some 46,000 megawatts of potential, the council says.