Morocco aspires to become a major player in green hydrogen in North Africa, banking on its pioneering role in renewable energies, with the idea of exporting it to Europe while exploiting it locally in production. fertilizer, a crucial economic sector.
At the end of July, King Mohammed VI reaffirmed his country’s ambitions in a speech, calling on his government for “rapid and qualitative implementation” of the “Morocco offer” for green hydrogen.
The idea is to export it to Europe while exploiting it locally in the production of fertilizers, a crucial economic sector. According to the King of Morocco, we must “valorize the assets available to our country and respond as best as possible to the projects carried out by global investors in this promising sector”.
Hydrogen is recovered through the electrolysis of water which separates this gas from oxygen. It is called “green” when it is produced using electricity from renewable energies: wind, solar or hydraulic.
Bringing great hopes as part of global efforts to reduce carbon emissions, it is an energy vector that can be used to decarbonize the steel industry, cement manufacturing, fertilizers, and chemicals, as well as the storage of clean energy.
Morocco is aiming for first place in the Maghreb, even if the sector is “embryo and major global projects will not see the light of day for three to five years,” explains Samir Rachidi, director of the Moroccan Iresen Research Institute.
In mid-August, the Ministry of Economy announced that it had reserved around 1.5 million hectares of public land – almost as much as the surface area of Kuwait – to accommodate “eight hydrogen and ammonia production sites greens”.
Moroccan media have reported projects from Australian, Indian, German, French and British investors. Morocco is jumping into the fray with the advantage of having already focused heavily over the last 15 years on clean energies which provide 38% of the electricity currently produced and aims to reach 52% in 2030.
Launching a green hydrogen sector, however, requires inexpensive electricity compared to rival countries like Mauritania or Egypt.
What cost?
The objective is not to exceed a production cost of 1 to 2 USD per kilo of green hydrogen, assures Ahmed Reda Chami, president of the Economic Council (public body) to the weekly La Vie Eco.
For Samir Rachidi of Iresen, it is also necessary to establish “an industrial value chain which begins with seawater desalination plants (for electrolysis), electricity storage, up to transport and commercialization of hydrogen.
Morocco has planned the addition of seven desalination stations to its existing fleet of 12 plants, in order to simultaneously address the water stress that threatens its agriculture, another key sector.
Algeria and Tunisia in the race
For Rabat, green hydrogen is crucial because this energy can be used for the production of ammonia, the basis of nitrogenous agricultural fertilizers, a sector in which the country is one of the world leaders thanks to its immense phosphate reserves.
Riding on strong global demand which has caused the price to soar to 1,000 euros per tonne since COVID-19, the Cherifian Phosphate Office (public monopoly) plans to produce one million tonnes of “ green ammonia” in 2027 ( from green hydrogen), and triple that in 2032.
The rest of the Maghreb is also positioning itself on green hydrogen. According to a report from Deloitte published this summer, North Africa will be the leading region in the world exporting green hydrogen in 2050, reshuffling the global energy cards.
Algeria “aims to become a major player” by capitalizing on “one of the largest potentials in the world” in terms of solar and wind energy and “on its transport infrastructure (gas pipelines) ” , declares Rabah Sellami, director at Renewable Energies Commission (CEREFE).
Investing in renewables
Currently, the oil and gas country produces only 3% of its electricity from renewable energies but is investing massively to achieve an installed power of 4 GW by 2024. Algeria has numerous desalination stations whose capacity will reach 2 billion m 3 /year of purified water in 2030.
Its roadmap for green hydrogen provides for “an annual production of one million tonnes in 2040, intended for export to the European market” and 250,000 tonnes for internal consumption, according to Rabah Sellami.
As for Tunisia, it will be “capable of exporting between 5.5 and 6 million tonnes of green hydrogen to Europe, by 2050”, recently confided Belhassen Chiboub, director general at the Ministry of Energy.
On condition of increasing its clean electricity production from 3% currently to 35% promised for 2030.
