Germany has agreed with Morocco to form a climate and energy alliance to support the expansion of renewable energy and hydrogen production in Morocco, the German Development Ministry said on Friday.
Germany seeks to enhance its reliance on hydrogen in the energy mix in the future, with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in polluting industrial sectors that cannot be converted to working with electricity, such as the steel industry and chemical production.
Berlin will have to import up to 70% of its hydrogen needs in the future, as Europe’s largest economy aims to reach zero emissions by 2045, but it lacks the space and conditions necessary to produce large amounts of wind and solar energy.
German Development Minister Svenja Schulze – who signed the alliance declaration with Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita in Berlin – said in a statement, “Morocco enjoys the best conditions for energy transformation and the production of green hydrogen. Germany wants to import hydrogen.”
Schulze added that the new green hydrogen economy must be fair and different from the fossil fuel-based economy.
The minister continued, “We want to do this fairly and through partnership, so that Morocco can also enhance its energy transition and get its fair share in future value chains.”
Electricity trade
For his part, Stefan Wenzel, Parliamentary Undersecretary of the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, said that given the geographical proximity, Berlin supports cooperation in the field of electricity trade between Morocco and the European Union and the involvement of German technology companies and suppliers in promoting the hydrogen economy there.
The Moroccan Ministry of Development stated that the largest solar power plant in the world in the city of Ouarzazate in southern Morocco was built with German support, adding that Berlin is also participating in building the first pilot green hydrogen plant in Morocco.
The ministry added that the station is expected to produce about 10,000 tons of hydrogen annually, which is enough to produce 50,000 tons of steel produced using clean energy, which is called “green steel.”
The Moroccan ministry expects more investments within the framework of the new German-Moroccan climate and energy alliance.
