TotalEnergies, Partners Ink Initial Land Contract for Morocco RE Project

Wedoany.com Report-Oct 30 , A joint venture between TotalEnergies SE and EREN Group, along with two Danish firms, has signed a “Preliminary Contract for Land Reservation” for a one-gigawatt solar and wind project near Morocco’s Atlantic coast.

The contract allows TE H2, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) and A.P. Møller Capital P/S, also based in Copenhagen, to launch pre-front-end engineering design studies for the project, said a joint statement Tuesday.

The project “will power the production of green hydrogen through the electrolysis of desalinated seawater and its transformation into 200,000 tons per year of green ammonia for the European market”, the companies said.

It will rise in the town of Chbika in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region. “This contract, a first in Morocco, will highlight the country’s exceptional renewable potential and contribute to the economic development of the Kingdom”, stated the online statement.

“This project will constitute the first phase of a development program aimed at creating a world-scale green hydrogen production hub”, it said.

TE H2, 80 percent owned by French energy giant TotalEnergies, and CIP, through its Energy Transition Fund, are in charge of “the development of renewable energy production (solar, wind, green hydrogen, and its derivatives)”. A.P. Møller Capital, through its merging Markets Infrastructure Fund, will build a port and the associated infrastructure for the project.

“Thanks to its geographical proximity and the quality of its wind and solar resources, Morocco indeed has the best assets to become a major partner for Europe in achieving the goals of the Green Deal, and TotalEnergies aims to contribute to this ambition”, TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said, referring to the European Green Deal for a net-zero EU economy by 2050.

TE H2 chief executive David Corchia said the “decisive first step” shows the venture’s commitment to pursuing renewables-sourced hydrogen production in the North African country. “The Kingdom has the potential to supply affordable and clean energy to Europe while serving its own decarbonized industrial development”, Corchia said. “Our consortium is strong, our overall Moroccan plan is very ambitious”.

In 2022 the European Union and Morocco signed a Green Partnership to support the energy transition on both sides of the Mediterranean.

“Work will be developed across three main thematic axes: climate and energy; the environment including marine and maritime issues; and the green economy”, the Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, under the European Commission, said in a statement October 18, 2022, announcing the pact.

“This Green Partnership will allow the EU and Morocco to progress towards their common goals of becoming low-carbon, climate-resilient economies and transition to a green economy; strengthen early policy dialogue and coordination on energy, climate change, environmental protection and the green economy at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels; foster innovative, sustainable, job-creating and environmentally friendly projects; develop triangular cooperation with other international actors to encourage a stronger commitment to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and collectively advance the global climate agenda”, said the statement shared on the Commission’s website.