Morocco is doubling down on electrifying its economy as a cornerstone of national energy policy, according to remarks delivered by Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Minister Charafat Afailal at a high-level event held Tuesday evening in Antalya, Turkey, on the sidelines of COP31.
Speaking at a session devoted to implementing the global « 35 by 35 » electrification pledge, co-organized by the Turkish COP31 presidency and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Afailal stressed that the pace of the transition needs to pick up. For a country still reliant on imports to meet part of its energy needs, she said, renewable electricity has become a strategic priority with economic and industrial stakes reaching well beyond the energy sector itself.
The minister called on governments to turn global commitments into tangible action: ambitious national strategies, faster renewable deployment, modernized grids, greater storage and interconnection capacity, mobilized investment, innovation and technology transfer.
Morocco’s energy strategy, in place since 2009, rests on three pillars: renewable energy, energy efficiency and regional energy integration. The numbers illustrate how far the country has come. Installed power capacity now stands at 12,364 megawatts, of which 5,780 megawatts, or 46.7 percent, comes from renewable sources. That share is expected to climb past 52 percent by 2030.
Under the national electricity capacity plan for 2026-2030, Morocco intends to invest roughly 133 billion dirhams, adding more than 18,000 megawatts of new capacity, over 11,750 of them renewable, along with close to 2,600 megawatts of storage. Annual grid investment is set to multiply sevenfold over the period.
These projects come bundled with reforms meant to ease private investment, encourage households and businesses to generate their own electricity, and establish a national certificate-of-origin scheme to track renewable power, a move designed to keep Moroccan exports competitive as decarbonization requirements tighten across international markets.
On efficiency, Morocco is targeting a 20 percent cut in energy consumption by 2030 across buildings, transport, industry and public lighting, with regional efficiency and decarbonization roadmaps now being drafted in all twelve of the kingdom’s regions. Afailal also reaffirmed Morocco’s ambition to become a major player in green hydrogen, leveraging its geography and natural resources.
The Antalya gathering framed electrification of energy-hungry sectors as one of the clearest paths toward cleaner power, improved efficiency and progress on the Paris Agreement, calling for closer coordination on policy, financing tools, technology and international cooperation.