To achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, Germany needs strategic partners such as Morocco. Berlin and Rabat have just sealed the Energy-Climate Alliance focused on the development of renewable energies and the green hydrogen sector, the derivatives of which will soon be essential for the global economy.
Relations between Germany and Morocco, which date back 68 years, have become denser over time, particularly in their trade, which reached almost 4.9 billion euros in 2022. This cooperation will go even further thanks to the Energy-Climate Alliance that the two countries have just sealed during the first session of the German-Moroccan Strategic Dialogue, which was recently held in the German capital.
Berlin and Rabat will therefore collaborate on strengthening adaptation to climate change, the development of renewable energies, and green hydrogen. “Morocco has excellent conditions for producing electricity from wind and sun, with which it can cover the needs of its economy and, in the future, also start exporting green hydrogen to Germany,” says the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The interest is too great for the German authorities since the hydrogen produced from the Cherifian kingdom will be exported to Germany for the benefit of Berlin and Bavarian industries whose carbon footprint is very controversial. This new energy is a less polluting alternative because its combustion does not emit CO2 which causes global warming, but rather water and heat.
Why Morocco?
But Germany can’t move forward alone in this emerging sector, which requires land solar, and wind potential that it no longer necessarily has today. As allies, the Germans and Moroccans will pool their efforts to be able to establish themselves in this new energy market through the exploitation of hydrogen derivatives such as green ammonia used in agriculture and synthetic fuel increasingly considered by certain airlines. The stakes are therefore strategic for this Energy-Climate Alliance.
The other factor that justifies the choice of Morocco is that it is among the Top 6 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with “strong potential for the production and export of green hydrogen”, according to the World Economic Forum. Morocco is also one of the 13 member countries (with Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, etc.) of the Compact with Africa. This initiative of the German federal government supported by the Group of 20 most developed states (G20) aims to achieve a climate-friendly energy supply, among other things. An envelope of 4 billion euros has been announced for this in the second half of 2023.
