Electricity Storage: ONEE to Invest in Battery Systems
«To address the intermittency of booming renewable energy production and to stabilize the national power grid, Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) has decided to turn to battery storage solutions.
In this context, the operator of the national electricity transmission network has launched a call for expressions of interest to identify partners who will support the implementation of battery energy storage systems (BESS) with a total planned capacity of 1,600 MW.
The ONEE intends to deploy these systems across several strategic locations in Morocco, including the Kénitra thermal power plant (270 MW), the Settat substation (150 MW), the Al Massira hydroelectric site (180 MW), and the substations of Tit Mellil, Laâwamer, Tétouan, Khénifra, Khouribga, and Tensift I and II, with capacities ranging between 100 and 300 MW.
The goal is to address, in the coming years, the challenges posed by the intermittent nature of renewable sources such as wind and solar, by storing surplus electricity and releasing it during peak demand periods. ONEE is also counting on this solution to improve the resilience and reliability of the national grid while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The decision to invest in battery-based electricity storage systems is well-founded, given the highly competitive cost of photovoltaic solar energy, currently estimated at approximately 0.40 dirhams per kilowatt-hour.
That said, the Office is placing even greater strategic emphasis on another key tool to manage peak electricity demand and renewable intermittency: pumped-storage hydroelectric plants (STEPs).
According to Kamal Htoute, Director of Strategy and Planning at ONEE, speaking at a conference organized by the Energy Federation and Engie Group, STEPs are expected to provide a storage capacity of 10,000 MW by 2050 – enough to meet five hours of peak demand and permanently resolve the issue of renewable intermittency.
He explained that “this electric storage potential of STEPs stems from the findings of a recent ONEE study,” and that the Office intends to build on the report’s recommendations by accelerating the development of new pumped-storage facilities.
Aziz DIOUF
