Morocco’s Minister of Industry, Trade, and Green and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy celebrated the first 100% Moroccan-made smart charging station for electric cars on December 21. The minister showcased the new technology in the presence of the director-general of the Solar Energy and Renewable Energies Research Institute (IRESEN), Badr Ikken, at the ministry’s headquarters in Rabat.
Elalamy presented the project as a new and innovative Moroccan technology, part of the electronic innovations that are starting to have an important place in the automotive sector.
The “iSmart” project is also part of Morocco’s long committed engagement in the automotive sector and its responsibility to maintain the development of the sector that is moving “totally, gradually, slowly, but surely towards renewable energy,” said Elalamy. Therefore, electronic innovations in the sector are a priority, he added.
Bader Ikken stated that assembly of the certified “iSmart” project will take place in Benguerir. It is slated to produce 5,000 smart-charging stations per year by 2022, with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector.
The electric car charging station is the first of its kind that Morocco’s innovators and manufacturers developed and produced 100% locally. Automotive manufacturers of the Green Energy Park requested the project’s development. Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and IRESEN jointly established the Green Energy Park research platform.
According to Ikken, the “iSmart” charging station will have many advanced settings including a CO2 capture that provides information about pollution in specific regions. It can also connect to 4G and display information and advertising. The project engineers have also developed a platform that will allow the monitoring and management of the stations in each city.