A government official said that Morocco intends to launch a tender to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in the western Mediterranean port of Nador in the country’s northeast.
Abdul Ghafour Al-Hajwi stated, in a presentation seen by Reuters, that the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development expects to achieve financial closure of the project during the next year, with the construction, operation and commercial operations phase starting in 2026.
Nador, in the western Mediterranean, is a deep-water port under construction and is expected to have a capacity of 3.5 million containers.
Last March, 4 ministries and 4 institutions in Morocco signed a protocol of agreement with the aim of completing the gas infrastructure development program in the country.
The gas infrastructure development program includes:
- Developing a terminal to import liquefied natural gas in the port of Nador in the western Mediterranean.
- Supporting gas pipelines that connect local gas producing basins to consumers.
- Construction of a new gas pipeline linking the station to the Maghreb-European pipeline (a pipeline linking Morocco and Europe).
Morocco is accelerating its steps in order to secure its energy needs, especially since it imports 96% of consumption from external sources, coinciding with the rise in prices against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Last June, the Moroccan Ministry of Energy Transition and the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank signed an agreement to develop the natural gas road map, with the aim of reaching 52% of electricity production through renewable energy by 2030.
