Clean electricity: Morocco ranked 2nd in Africa

Arecord! Clean (i.e. renewable and nuclear) electricity sources reached 39% of the world’s electricity in 2022. Even better, wind and solar represent 12% of this production. This is what emerges from the latest report by the British think tank Ember entitled  “Global Electricity Review 2023”, published recently. These two clean energies accounted for around 5% of global production in 2015, and less than 2% in 2010. This breakthrough heralds the beginning of the end of the fossil age. Moreover, the experts of the think tank underline it in their study, saying “We are entering the age of clean energy”. By 2030, wind and solar are expected to grow to 41% of global electricity generation, up from 10% in 2021. This challenge hinges on countries’ commitments to further adopt renewable energy. 
Experts predict a fall in fossil fuel production, propelled by the accelerated use of wind and solar power. According to Ember, the use of fossil fuels could start to decline as early as this year. Initially, a slight decline of 0.3% could be recorded in 2023. Bigger drops will follow in 2024.
Then , what is it that explains this reversal in the countries’ energy policy? “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the gradual closure of Moscow’s gas pipelines, and the subsequent price spikes, have prompted governments to rethink their energy policies to speed up their transition to decarbonized sources”, explain experts in this study, based on electricity sector data from 78 countries. The survey reveals that more than 60 countries produce more than 10% of their energy from wind and solar. The European Union leads the pack with 22% of electricity from renewable sources. Denmark produced the largest share of wind and solar energy in electricity production with 60.8% of the total energy. Lithuania and Luxembourg follow with 48.4 and 46.6% respectively. In North America, the United States produces 15%. For its part, Canada lags behind with 7%. In Africa, Morocco (with 17%) ranks second behind Namibia (25%). Morocco is in a good position since it is above the world average (12%). As a reminder, it was in 2009 that the Kingdom set up an ambitious energy plan. Morocco  is committed to increasing the share of renewable energies in its electricity mix to 52% by 2030, i.e. 20% solar energy, 20% wind energy, and 12% hydraulic energy. To achieve this goal, major investments have been made, in particular the construction of the largest solar power plant in the world, namely the Noor Ouarzazate complex. Kenya occupies the third place with a production of clean electricity from wind and solar power standing at 16%. 
Khadija SKALLI