Morocco's electrical power supply is generated, distributed and transmitted by the state-owned company, l’Office National de l’Electricité (ONE). An increase in population and economic development has caused an increase in demand for electricity. Owing to frequent scarcity of power, the Moroccan government has put into effect privatisation measures in the country’s power utility, liberalising the electrical power sector. The restructuring of ONE has resulted in both the public and private sectors being responsible for electrical power provision.
Morocco relies heavily on imported sources of energy to meet its energy needs. The country is part of an interconnection programme with Algeria and Spain, whereby electricity is imported from its two partners. Morocco imports coal from the United States, Colombia, and South Africa, and in 2005, the country had purchased coal from Poland. The coal is used to power the country’s two largest electrical power stations at Mohammedia and Jorf Lasfar. There does exist at present a small coal mine at Jerada, but coal reserves at the mine have been declining.
Morocco is in the process of gradually integrating its electrical power grid with those of neighbouring African and European countries. Morocco has formed part of the Maghreb integration programme, a programme directed by the Maghreb Electricity Committee. Physical integration initiatives had commenced in the 1990s. In May 2003 Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco expressed their interest in linking their electricity systems to the EU single energy market. In April 2004 an effort was made to expand the capacity of the interconnection between Spain and Morocco by 700 MW, resulting in the total capacity reaching 1,400 MW.
Morocco is experiencing an approximately 7 percent rise in demand for electricity, and this lead Morocco to expand the Jorf Lasfar power station with the addition of two, 348-megawatt (MW), units by U.S.-based CMS Energy Corp. When Unit 4 was completed at the end of January 2001, the power plant’s generating capacity totalled 1,356 MW.
The Spanish energy company, Endesa, together with Morocco's power utility, ONE have completed the construction of a 384-MW combined cycle power station in Tahaddart. The plant is situated 30km from the city of Tangier. Operations at the power station came on line in January 2005.
ONE has embarked on a number of projects aimed at maximising the power supply in the country.
The utility is focusing increasing the electrification of rural areas and has implemented the Program of Rural Electrification Total (PERG), an electrification scheme designed accelerate the provision of electrical power in rural areas by 2007. The scheme had started in 1996 and in 2005 rural electrification in rural areas had risen up to 81 percent, compared with 72 percent in 2004. ONE anticipates the figure to reach to 89 percent in the present year of 2006.
ONE has initiated a project to construct the Al Wahda thermal power station with combined cycle. From a power of 2 X.400 MW, the Al Wahda power station will consume 1,1 billion Nm3 of natural gas and its annual production in electric power, being 6 billion kWh, will account for 23 percent of Morocco’s total electrical power generation by 2010. Completion of the project is planned to take place from 2008 to 2009.
The site of the Al Wahda power station possesses many factors that would favour its operation. One is that there is an availability of a cold source in the vicinity, the plant is in close proximity to Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline and electrical supply network, and lastly, the topography of the site is favourable for plant’s establishment.
Morocco is also focusing on making use of wind power to generate electricity. With this in mind, ONE has launched a wind park project at Cape Sim in the area of southern Essaouira. It is capable of producing 60 MW of electricity based on wind power producing an annual average of 210 GWh. This is to commence in 2006. ONE has launched another wind park project in the area south east of Tangier, capable of producing 140MW of electricity, and producing an annual average of 510 GWh. The project is planned to be operational in 2007.
Located at 86km south of the town of Oujda, the thermo-solar power station with combined cycle integrated (SCC) of Ain Beni Mathar is another project by ONE that is currently underway. The project involves the use of solar radiation, collected by a field of cylindro-parabolic mirrors of a surface of 220 000m². Natural gas will be transported 12km by means of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline to the plant. The power station will produce a total of 1 590 GWh. The project is expected to be completed within thirty months and operations are due to commence in 2008.
In the province of Khénifra, 40km north-east of the town of Khénifra, the hydroelectric complex of Tanafnit El Borj is being built by ONE. The project consists of hydroelectric installations at the sites of Tanafnit and El Borj. The complex will be powered by gas reserves found at Oumerrabia. The hydro-electric installation of Tanafnit will have a working capacity of 2 X 9 MW, harnessing the flows of this source ONE will restore the Tanafnit flows with the upstream flows of the hydro electric installation of El Borj. The El Borj hydro-electric installation situated 12km from the town of Khénifra will connect the flows of water from Oum er Rbia, modifying them by means of the Tanafnit hydroelectric installation, and restoring them with the upstream of the confluence of the Amassine wadi. The working capacity of the installation El Borj will be 2 X 11 MW. The hydroelectric complex of Tanafnit El Borj is due to be operational in 2008.
ONE has embarked on the process of improving operations at the existing thermal power station of Mohammedia, the second most powerful plant, the first being the Jorf Lasfar power plant. The power station of Mohammedia has four sections generating a capacity of 150 MW per section. Two sections are powered by coal and two sections are powered by fuel oil. The improvement project entails setting the solid, liquid and gas emissions from the coal-powered sections of plant in conformity with international standards with regards to environmental protection and operational productivity. Work on the project is due to be completed by 2007.
In the present year of 2006 ONE is working on a two-phased project that entails the transferring of the three gas turbines from the power station at Tan Tan to the new power station at Laâyoune. The aim is to strengthen the means of production in the area and to support the extension of the national transport networks towards the southern provinces of the country. Work on the project is due to be completed in the course of the current year.
