Morocco is increasingly becoming the go-to place within Africa for green projects. The North African country’s commitment as well as its regulatory establishments has heralded a variety of renewable energy projects and many more in the pipeline. The latest backing of Morocco’s green ventures comes from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) which is proposing the country to be an African model for renewable energy.
Irena is building a Renewable Energy Database Framework and Morocco will be the pilot country, and is also including a Renewable Scenario for Africa which will review the impact of various policies that could promote the transition to a clean energy system within the next 20 years.
“Blackouts, along with reliance on expensive fossil fuels for stop-gap electricity generation, are estimated to cost African economies between 1% and 5% of GDP each year,” according to a recent IRENA press release. And Morocco is actively pursuing 2 GW of solar energy alone by 2020 (not to mention the country’s wind ambitions as well), placing it ahead of many other African countries. The organization added: “The Renewable Scenario factors in the goal of full energy access by 2030, while substantially reducing longer-term costs compared to the business- as-usual scenario in 2050. IRENA continues working with African partners to enhance the Renewable Scenario with more detailed data and tools.”
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