Morocco aims to move from an importer to an exporter of energy, in particular through green hydrogen and its derivatives, underlined, Wednesday in Rabat, Hicham Bouzekri, director of research, development and industry at the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy.
Green hydrogen constitutes a “fundamental resource for the future of energy in Morocco”, noted Mr. Bouzekri, at the opening of the 2nd edition of the International Conference on Green Hydrogen, placed under the theme “ Towards an ecosystem dedicated to green hydrogen”.
On this occasion, he highlighted the efforts of the private sector, strongly supported by the government, noting that these efforts have already made it possible to attract 40 international consortia.
In this sense, he recalled the meeting of the Steering Committee responsible for “The Morocco Offer” in terms of green hydrogen, which proceeded to the pre-selection of a series of projects covering essentially the three regions of the provinces of south of the Kingdom: the Guelmin – Oued Noun region, the Laayoune Sakia El Hamra region and the Dakhla – Oued Eddahab region.
Mr. Bouzekri also indicated that this meeting, which was an opportunity to implement the High Royal Instructions aimed at accelerating the implementation of “The Morocco Offer” in the field of green hydrogen, with the quality required and to respond to national and foreign project leaders in this promising sector, made it possible to examine the contractual framework relating to the public land base dedicated to the realization of these projects and the mechanisms capable of optimizing its use.
Read also: Tan-Tan: A future strategic hub for the export of green hydrogen in Europe
Studies carried out by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have ranked Morocco among the first three countries in the world capable of producing hydrogen at a competitive cost, he said.
For his part, Daniel Hissel, professor at the University of Burgundy Franche-Comté in France, indicated that Morocco has an immense solar resource which must be optimized and transformed into green hydrogen, in the service of clean energy.
Mr. Hissel, who also heads the Hydrogen Research Federation of the National Scientific Research Center (CNRS-France), explained in a statement to MAP that this solar resource could be converted into hydrogen, then sold to less endowed countries. in solar resources, to meet industrial, agricultural and other needs linked to reducing energy bills.
According to the French expert, hydrogen is an energy vector which “will allow us to store energy, in particular renewable energy, which will facilitate the production of electricity using, for example, photovoltaic panels” .
After listing the different applications and uses of green hydrogen, particularly in the field of mobility, he called for transforming this hydrogen into ammonia, a carbon-free substitute for fossil fuels in the future.
For her part, Nadia Yousfi, professor at the University of Burgundy Franche-Comté, affirmed that this conference will focus on examining the progress made in the field of green hydrogen, as well as the obstacles to development, highlighting the need to promote aspects related to strengthening the skills needed to support innovation and research in this sector.
The conference constitutes an opportunity to formulate strategies and develop work systems integrating the educational and social dimensions necessary to support the transition to sustainable energy systems, where green hydrogen and its derivatives occupy an important place.
This event focuses on several themes relating in particular to “solar energy and wind energy for green hydrogen”, “the efficiency of electrolysis”, “solar thermal energy”, “management energy projects”, “the green hydrogen value chain”, in addition to “the green hydrogen economy” and “magnetic formulas for hydrogen liquefaction”.
With MAP
