Africa's first offshore wind farm to begin construction 'in four years'
Morocco boasts excellent resource for offshore wind on its Atlantic Coast, which has high wind speeds and shallow waters
Construction will begin on what would be Africa’s first offshore wind farm in just four years, according to a new plan published to develop a gigawatt-scale project off Morocco.
The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), an intergovernmental organisation made up of 43 member states, announced last week that the project will go ahead near the small port city of Essaouira on Morocco’s Atlantic Coast.
This came after Spain formally signed an €8.5m ($9.9m) contribution to the Blue Mediterranean Partnership, a multi-donor fund promoted by the UfM that mobilises investments in sustainable blue economy projects.
The first projects that will be developed because of that contribution include the wind farm, the restoration of a coral ecosystem in Jordan and the development of a wastewater treatment facility in Egypt.
UfM said the wind project will have the potential to generate up to 1GW, with construction beginning by 2029.
But he said it is interesting to see the “uptick of interest” in offshore wind in the region.
The World Bank has estimated Morocco has 200GW of offshore wind potential, with 22GW of this fixed bottom and 178GW floating. Its best resource is on the Atlantic coast, which boasts high wind speed and shallow waters.
Morocco has recently looked the most likely country to bring the first offshore wind farm to Africa.