Morocco (one of many prime 5 African economies) is one India’s key strategic companions in Africa and lately the partnership has acquired new dimensions and dynamism. Recently the 2 sides co-chaired the maiden India-Arab vitality discussion board. In a wide-ranging written interview to ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury following the Forum Moroccan Minister of Energy, Mines & Environment Aziz Rabbah defined that India and Morocco can develop joint initiatives within the vitality sector with nice alternatives in renewable vitality initiatives. Rabbah was of the opinion that each nations can collectively undertake electrification initiatives throughout Africa.
Morocco hosted the primary India-Arab vitality discussion board organised underneath the co-chairship of India and Morocco. What was the primary end result of this assembly and the views of cooperation for each India and Arab nations, particularly with Morocco?
The Arab nations and India emphasised the necessity to encourage regional electrical energy commerce, which is able to enable vitality suppliers and market members to make the most of economies of scale to develop excessive capability techniques and entry cost-effective provide choices that present extra flexibility to entry producing capability from different nations within the areas which might be capable of meet capability and energy reserve necessities at decrease value.
Both sides pressured the necessity to strengthen Arab-Indian cooperation in vitality discipline with the intention to speed up the vitality transition via the optimum exploitation of renewable , comparable to photo voltaic, wind and inexperienced hydrogen, and maximizing using fossil fuels in sectors the place isn’t any different different supply of vitality. In addition, the 2 sides expressed the necessity to strengthen the efforts in direction of enhancing the vitality effectivity packages and actions in numerous financial actions aiming to reaching sustainable improvement within the Arab world and India.
Many Arab nations have expressed their need to incorporate the choice of electrical energy producing and sea water desalination with nuclear vitality as a part of their methods to diversify vitality and water provide assets. Both events acknowledge the significance of cooperation and alternate of information and experiences within the discipline of nuclear vitality.
India is the third largest shopper of oil on the earth and ranks 13th in gasoline consumption. It is anticipated that this consumption development will proceed till 2040. Given the restricted
and gasoline assets and the massive potential of oil and pure gasoline within the Arab nations, these strengthen the significance of enhancing the connection between India and the Arab nations within the discipline of oil and pure gasoline business. More essential within the discipline of commerce, as India’s dependence on oil and gasoline imports is quickly rising within the coming a long time, the place Arab nations get pleasure from enormous surplus of oil and gasoline for exports.
Both sides expressed the necessity to exploit the funding alternatives obtainable within the discipline of vitality between the Arab nations and India, and the significance of exchanging experiences within the space of Research and Development (R&D), and enhancing cooperation associated to coaching and capability constructing.
Morocco has large plans for its vitality sector each in renewable and non-renewable sectors. What are the incentives that Morocco gives to overseas traders and the way can India accomplice with morocco on this initiative?
Morocco’s dedication to an vitality transition is a voluntarist political selection made by King Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, greater than a decade in the past, via an formidable vitality technique, based mostly primarily on the rise of renewable energies, the event of vitality effectivity and the reinforcement of regional integration, accompanied by a powerful orientation of tailored innovation and native part.
Seven key components have been adopted as a part of our vitality technique, specifically 1)Adequate authorized framework, 2) Openness to the non-public sector, 3) Complementarity of institutional actions, 4) Demand structuring and dependable monitoring, 5) Support for Research and Development, 6)Innovation and industrial integration, in addition to 7) Balanced worldwide cooperation supported by such initiatives of worldwide session conferences.
Morocco has recurrently elevated its ambition within the improvement of renewable vitality. In 2018, the King, determined to realize the target introduced by the Kingdom of Morocco on the COP21 by rising the share of renewable vitality to greater than 52% within the electrical energy combine by 2030.
Morocco, as a part of its sector improvement renewable vitality coverage, pays particular consideration to the revival of investments within the renewable vitality sector.
To this finish, Morocco has deliberate to grant particular advantages to traders, whose initiatives will assist, firstly, to the qualitative and quantitative improvement of the renewable vitality sector and, secondly, to enhance competitiveness of the sector and job creation.
For tax incentives, among the many measures offered for within the Investment Charter, there are, for sure classes of initiatives, exemptions or reductions in customs duties, registration charges, participation tax nationwide solidarity, company tax, common earnings tax, tax on actual property earnings and tax on licenses.
In accordance with the Royal High Orientations, new initiatives have been launched in these current years to speed up the Moroccan vitality and the financial transition in direction of a low-carbon mannequin and to fulfill the socio-economic wants of the inhabitants. These embody specifically:
– Adoption of a roadmap for the event of inexperienced hydrogen
– Adoption of a roadmap for the energetic valorization of biomass
– Elaboration of a roadmap for marine energies
– Elaboration of an built-in program of water desalination stations, backed up by renewable vitality manufacturing items, with the purpose of assembly the wants of populations and farmers for ingesting water and irrigation
– A program to decarbonize nationwide business by equipping all the economic zones with renewable vitality initiatives with a complete capability of greater than 800 MW ;
– A plan for inexperienced and built-in tools of the nationwide community which supplies the event of all electrical energy manufacturing initiatives programmed in renewable vitality, in addition to the deployment of essential investments by the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water for the event and reinforcement of the nationwide electrical energy community, in addition to the modernization of the nationwide electrical energy dispatching system to enhance the monitoring of the intermittent manufacturing of renewable initiatives.
About 40 nationwide and worldwide corporations from 12 nations are working within the improvement of renewable vitality initiatives in Morocco, which confirms the opening of the nationwide market.
In order to additional strengthen the attractiveness of the nationwide vitality mannequin, a legislative and regulatory framework governing renewable energies is underway to reinforce transparency, simplify authorization procedures and provides traders the mandatory visibility when it comes to the reception capability of the electrical energy system.
Morocco has been capable of capitalize on this achievement for the consolidation and theincrease of overseas direct funding within the vitality sector due to a transparent legal-institutional framework, which ensures authorized safety for traders and donors.
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) mannequin has been a viable possibility to make sure the safety of the nation’s electrical energy provide. Its improvement is marked by enhancements and optimizations when it comes to the Debt / Equity ratio, the contribution of native banks, the ensures required and the authorized framework of the initiatives.
Morocco and India can develop joint initiatives within the vitality sector with nice alternatives within the improvement of renewable vitality initiatives. India has fairly a complicated expertise when it comes to the event of huge installations and initiatives; such expertise will be shared and related on the degree of the African continent via Morocco.
Morocco and India are essential actors within the area of renewable energies. How can India and Morocco collaborate for the event in electrification initiatives in Africa? Can’t worldwide photo voltaic alliance, which was launched on the margin of cop 22 held in Marrakech in 2016, represent an excellent framework to do it?
With greater than 15% of the world inhabitants, Africa consumes solely 3.2% of the first vitality used on the earth and almost 600 million Africans, or about 70% of the inhabitants of the continent, had no entry to electrical energy in 2018, Africa wants so as to add 6 to 7 GW of put in capability annually to generalize entry to electrical energy by 2030;
Currently just one to 2 GW are deployed per yr, though Africa has huge potential in renewable energies; the vitality, notably the renewables energies are one of many essential vectors for reinforcing cooperation between Morocco and its African counterparts. Moroccan public institutions have all the time been related to the implementation of African vitality methods;
Morocco is current in Africa by way of the National Office for Electricity and Potable Water (ONEE) as a foremost participant within the electrical energy market in Africa due to the know-how acquired via its planning experiences, operation, upkeep and rural electrification, mixed notably inside the framework of the Global
Program (GREP), a program certified as profitable by worldwide establishments. It additionally made it doable to generalize entry to electrical energy in report time when the agricultural electrification charge was solely 18% in 1996;
Today, ONEE is an operator in a number of African nations together with Senegal, Gambia, Chad, Mauritania, Mali, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde. In renewable vitality, Morocco, via the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN), places its experience within the improvement of photo voltaic vitality on the service of many African nations;
In order to strengthen the regional and worldwide cooperation, in accordance with King’s imaginative and prescient, the Kingdom of Morocco performs a really energetic position within the improvement of worldwide and regional cooperation within the discipline of vitality, specifically in favor of the African continent.
In this regard, the Coalition for sustainable entry to vitality, co-chaired by the Morocco and Ethiopia aiming to generalize entry to sustainable vitality and notably to African nations. Morocco has developed an essential arsenal of strategic cooperation settlement, which constitutes an actual alternative to fulfill the problem of entry to vitality.
In addition, the International Solar Alliance (ISA), of which Morocco turned a member after the signing of the framework settlement, on November 19, 2019, by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and the Environment, in accordance with the necessities of article 7 of this settlement, may play a number one position within the improvement of off-grid renewable vitality applied sciences, a vital component to enhance the dwelling situations of residents and to make sure safety, competitiveness, financial progress and expert employment.
The ISA ought to additional help the creation of an enabling surroundings for off-grid renewable vitality applied sciences via, specifically, the switch of know-how, know-how and the sharing of the outcomes of innovation ensuing from R&D to contribute to the emergence of recent merchandise, providers and processes.
Morocco has made a major contribution to inexperienced and clear vitality. how can, in your opinion, Morocco and India be a part of palms to form world local weather change agenda?
Despite not being liable for the issue of local weather change, Morocco has drawn up its DCN (Determined Contribution on the National degree) with the conviction that world ambitions to deal with the issue of local weather change name for a considerable dedication from all events each when it comes to mitigation, adaptation and technique of implementation, cooperation approaches and transparency.
In phrases of mitigation, Morocco has set a goal for decreasing GHG (Green House Gases) emissions by 42%, in comparison with emissions projected for the yr 2030. In phrases of vitality, Morocco plans to achieve 52% of the put in electrical energy from renewable sources and discount of vitality consumption by 20% by 2030.
In reality, Morocco’s vitality technique and vitality effectivity technique, each have an effect on advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Due to its strategic geographical location, Morocco continues its energetic position in accelerating the combination of vitality markets, whereas striving to strengthen its electrical energy hyperlinks with its neighbors by growing new electrical energy hyperlinks and strengthening current ones.
Morocco continues its energetic participation within the activation of the joint declaration on sustainable electrical energy exchanges “SET ROADMAP”, which goals to develop and implement a roadmap for sustainable electrical energy exchanges between Morocco and Europe. (France, Spain, Portugal and Germany).
The European Union has categorised Morocco as a key nation within the “Green Deal” initiative underneath preparation and has proven an enormous curiosity within the Kingdom’s expertise within the discipline of renewable energies.
Aware of the nice significance of cooperation to draw investments, switch applied sciences and implement improvement initiatives and packages, Morocco attaches nice significance to strengthening and growing worldwide cooperation, the place the Department of vitality continues to cooperate with sure worldwide organizations, organizations and our bodies whose goal is to launch or contribute to the implementation of unpolluted vitality initiatives and packages.
The vitality sector is without doubt one of the essential areas for strengthening cooperation between Morocco and India. Moroccan public establishments have expertise suggestions within the implementation of regional vitality methods, by supporting establishments of their totally different areas of experience, whether or not it’s planning of provide and demand for electrical energy, engineering, rural electrification or renewable energies, to not point out capability constructing work.
Morocco is encouraging overseas investments within the mining sector. India has an enormous want for various mines to develop its business. is there any plan for collaboration between the 2 nations or to develop a win-win partnership on this essential sector?
Moroccan mining sector is open to traders. Exploration, analysis and exploitation actions are carried out underneath a mining allow or an exploration authorization issued by the Administration answerable for mines.
Moroccan authorities has all the time been involved by the institution of a enterprise local weather appropriate for investments within the nationwide mining sector. This could have been concretized by the implementation of a renewed technique aiming on the improvement of this very important sector. The final technique was illustrated by the implementation of a plan entitled “Plan Maroc Mines 2021-2030”
This plan, based mostly on a complete method concerning the improvement of an environment friendly and aggressive sector by 2030 working for an built-in industrialization and sustainable progress, is construct round 4 strategic pillars, specifically:
• Developing a community of aggressive actors;
• Overhaul of the institutional group of the sector;
• Strengthening the social affect and the accountable and sustainable character of the sector;
• Adapting the legislative framework and monetary and financial measures to the brand new ambitions of the sector.
These measures are keen to present an impetus to the nationwide mining sector and funding alternatives when it comes to exploration, analysis and exploitation of mining merchandise.
In this context, strengthening a collaboration and improvement of a partnership between Morocco and India within the Moroccan mining sector will be materialized via:
• Participation of Indian mining corporations in numerous public requires competitors launched by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment regarding granting mining permits within the mining area of Tafilalet and Figuig (South East of Morocco).
Source: thegreaterindia.in
