Renewable energy in Morocco: 46% of capacity and dependency at 87.9%

Morocco continues to rely on renewable energy sources to enhance its energy independence, but the dependence rate on imported energy remains high at 87.9% by 2025, in a paradox that reveals a significant difference between installed electricity capacity and the actual production of clean electricity. While the total electricity capacity in Morocco reached 12,314 MW, of which 5,630 MW came from renewable sources (46.1% of the total), the contribution of these sources to meeting the actual demand for electricity is only 24.3%. 58% of the electricity is provided by imported coal. The first source of electricity production in Morocco remains at about 58% in 2025, as the Kingdom imports about 10 million tons annually entirely from abroad. This raises the national energy bill, which amounted to 68.6 billion dirhams during the first half of 2026, an increase of 28.9% compared to the same period last year, at a time when purchases of gasoline and fuel oil jumped to 35.85 billion dirhams (+44.7%). This import burdens the deficit of the trade balance, which amounted to 282 billion dirhams in August In the past, at a time when the decline of the Moroccan dirham against the euro and the dollar raises the cost of bills denominated in hard currency. This pressure comes in the context of the continued rise in fuel prices in Morocco domestically, which increases the sensitivity of the national energy bill to the fluctuations of international markets. Investments of 120 billion dirhams by 2030 To reduce this dependency, the government intends to inject investments of approximately 120 billion dirhams between 2025 and 2030 to raise the total electricity capacity to 27,646 MW, with renewable energies accounting for about 80% of the new capacity added, raising its share of installed capacity to 52% by 2030. The capacity licensed under Law 13-09 increased 4.2 times between 2021 and 2025, with associated investments increasing 2.65 times to AED 52.2 billion. Electricity capacity in Morocco Late 2025 by source Source Power (MW) Percentage of the total installed total 12,314 100% Renewable energies 5,630 46.1% Wind energy 2,452 19.9% Solar photovoltaics 546 4.4% Concentrated solar energy 540 4.4% Why are megawatts alone not enough? Abdul Latif Mahid, an expert in renewable energies and the owner of a company for engineering studies and consultancy, believes that "the decisive indicator is no longer the number of installed megawatts, but the amount of clean electricity actually produced and its ability to compensate for imported energy," referring to the fluctuation that characterizes the production of solar and wind energy and the need of the electrical network for continuous stability. Jamal Boughnam, a state engineer in electrical engineering and a lecturer in energy solutions, emphasizes. However, "converting the roofs of factories, warehouses, and buildings into small and medium production units can accumulate important capacity at the national level," recalling Decree No. 2.25.100 issued in March 2026, which regulated the self-production of electricity in three categories according to capacity: a simple permit without 11 kW, an approval to link between 11 kW and 5 MW, and a license for more than 5 MW. This discrepancy between the investment ambition and the current reality of the electrical network makes the modernization of distribution lines and the development of storage solutions a requirement Fundamental to the transformation of prospective investments into actual energy independence, not just additional numbers added to the installed capacity.