Green hydrogen: Challenges and opportunities for the kingdom of Morocco

With rising climate change challenges and issues surrounding finding solutions, the use of green hydrogen emerges as a promising remedy.

Hydrogen has a great potential of becoming the best ally when it comes to the question of producing clean energy, as hydrogen exists in abundance in the form of gas in the composition of water and can be stored easily over time.

The Kingdom of Morocco plans on settling as a top contestant in the green hydrogen production race, which would help the country reach the title of regional leader in that field.

The country has intensely invested in renewable energies, following a 30-yearlong plan, focusing on developing solar and wind energy projects, in order to reach its energetical independence, with numerous projects revolving around clean energies.

As Morocco holds the second place in phosphate production in the world, this would complement the production of green hydrogen and make the country a solid competitor in that field.

Digging into this industry would also strongly help Morocco reach its goal of having more than half of green energy represented in its energetical mix.

As investments in the field of green hydrogen have multiplied in the country, Morocco could be one the first active actors in democratizing the production and use of green hydrogen as a primary source of energy in the world.

For the moment, the Moroccan Kingdom relies on investments from other countries and slowly takes actions regarding the implementation of green hydrogen in the industry. Pushing through this dynamic, « Green H2 Morocco » has been created by the Moroccan ministry of energies in 2019 with the intent of federating and centralizing actions regarding the production of hydrogen in the kingdom.

Numerous projects are under development in order to settle, under the next 15 years, green hydro-gen as a reliable alternative source of energy, accessible and at reasonable costs.

More and more intrastate alliances have been settled in that sense, notably with the launch of the « Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance » created with the intention of collaborating with neighboring countries of Morocco.

Going over the continental scale, investments with countries like France, Germany or China have also been multiplying in order to develop the production of green hydrogen in the country, with hopes of providing other countries, on a worldwide scale.

In that sense, projects like the HEVO Morocco Amoniac developed by the Portuguese company Fusion Fuel Green or companies like the French company Total Eren have invested in the coun-try for the development of « megaprojects » in the production of green hydrogen.

These alliances would firmly help lower the green hydrogen costs production, as more and more projects are seeing the light, creating more competition, stimulating attractiveness and technological innovation growth in this industry.

While the potential of green hydrogen as a solution to climate change is promising for the Kingdom of Morocco, the journey towards its widespread integration in the country must be established with precautions.

Challenges regarding the costs, the legal framework, the transportation of green hydrogen and its storage are yet to be resolved.

Whilst green hydrogen holds promise in the renewable energy sector, it is still significantly more expensive than blue hydrogen, produced from fossil fuels. Experts believe that costs will decrease over time with innovation and mass deployment of electrolysis technologies, but a key factor is access to low-cost renewable electricity. The competition between green and blue hydrogen is expected to intensify in the coming decades, with green hydrogen potentially becoming more cost-competitive due to decreasing renewable electricity costs.

In terms of regulation, Morocco lacks a comprehensive regulatory framework for hydrogen. As the nation strives to reduce its carbon footprint and embrace sustainable energy sources, a well-structured regulatory environment will help attract investments, foster innovation, and ensure environmental responsibility. By addressing regulatory gaps and uncertainties, Morocco can pave the way for the successful deployment of green hydrogen initiatives, ultimately contributing to a greener and more sustainable future.

Water management is another challenge, as obtaining sufficient high-quality water for electrolysis is vital. Furthermore, government assistance is necessary for green hydrogen projects to succeed in lowering production costs.

In summary, green hydrogen holds potential, but it needs a cautious and thorough approach to over-come its issues and guarantee its success in Morocco.

Morocco’s pursuit of green hydrogen as the «oil of the 21st century» is laden with opportunities but demands prudent safeguards. Despite the potential of green hydrogen, careful and thorough re-search must be done.

To maximize national benefits, it should give the domestic private sector precedence over multinational oil companies, allot prime solar and wind sites to parties that can significantly contribute to local employment and industrial growth, and foster the growth of the electrolyzes and fuel cell businesses in the region.

In order to foster a green hydrogen ecosystem, it should also stay away from off-take agreements that put the country’s economy in danger and set up knowledge transfer partnerships with foreign partners.

Only after securing national energy sovereignty should projects be considered for export, and export agreements should include a «national preference» right. Tariffs should continue to be adaptable to project development.

The goals of the Special Commission on the Development Model and Morocco’s sustainable development plan are precisely aligned with these measures, which are essential for the country’s transition from energy dependence to green energy sovereignty by 2035.