Morocco: increase in electrical energy production in 2021

The chairman of the National Authority for Electricity Regulation (ANRE), Abdellatif Bardach, said Tuesday in the House of Representatives that the installed capacity of electrical energy increased by 116 megawatts (MW) in 2021.

This increase is the result of the adoption of other renewable energy sources such as the wind farm in Oualidia (36 MW) and solar power plants in Zagora and Missour (40×2 MW), said Mr. Bardach during his presentation of the annual report of ANRE before the Committee on Infrastructure, Energy, Mining and Environment, noting that the year 2021 was also marked by the restart of part of the thermal power plant of Kenitra (75×3 MW).

Regarding the production of electricity, the official noted that power plants operating on coal still prevail since they achieve 67.6% of total production, to which is added the production based on diesel (2.6%) and gas (8.3%), stressing that in 2021, the share of thermal energy has exceeded 78% of overall production. In addition, the share of renewable energy amounted to 19.5% of the electricity mix, he said, stating that imports via the interconnection lines between Morocco and Spain have contributed to 1.6% of the energy injected.

Regarding renewable energy, the president of ANRE explained that the installed capacity has experienced a significant increase in 2021, from 1,221 MW in 2000 to 4,067 MW in 2021.

He also stressed that the national electricity mix has experienced, compared to 2020, the creation of three facilities namely the wind farm of Oualidia and solar power plants of Zagora and Missour.

In 2021, renewable power plants contributed 7,972.8 GW/h to the share of energy injected against 7,278.8 GW/h recorded in 2020, an annual change of +9.5%, he said. Renewable energy injected during 2021 amounted to 19.1% of the overall energy injected into the national transmission system compared to 18.5% in 2020, he said.

In relation to energy demand, Bardach reported that the total energy demanded in 2021 increased by almost 6% compared to the previous year and by almost 4.3% compared to 2019, noting that this demand reached a maximum of 133.74 GW/h on July 12, 2021, a difference of almost 6% compared to a year earlier.

The maximum capacity required on the same day amounted to 6,710 MW, an annual difference of 4.2% compared to 2020, he added, noting that the national demand, which is reflected in the connections of the transmission system, recorded a jump of 5.8% compared to 2020.

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