While hydrogen has been widely used since the mid-twentieth century in many industrial sectors, it is today experiencing renewed interest for economic decarbonization. Thus, demand for this "green gold" is expected to increase fivefold by 2050, driven by environmental concerns and the climate crisis.
Morocco is positioning itself as an ideal candidate to become a leader in green hydrogen production, taking advantage of both its vast solar and wind energy resources and its strategic geography, at the crossroads of Africa and Europe. The Moroccan government has recently established an ambitious framework with the Morocco Offer published in March 2024, which aims to support the development of the hydrogen sector in the country.
This article proposes to explore the technological and environmental aspects of hydrogen production and uses before analyzing Morocco's assets in this sector and the long-term economic prospects it offers for the country. While the opportunities for Morocco to assert itself on the global hydrogen stage are numerous and promising, the substantial volumes that will be necessary for the climate transition represent important technical and environmental challenges. These must be considered in an objective and informed manner so that we can collectively make the best choices to support the fight against climate change.
Indeed, green hydrogen will play an important role in Morocco in the coming years thanks to its many assets (significant potential for renewable electricity, low population density in certain areas, and geographic proximity to Europe). The Morocco Offer, which plans to reserve nearly 1 million hectares for this sector, demonstrates the country's strong ambition for developing this new sector. By emphasizing projects with significant positive externalities for the Moroccan economy, the country intends to develop several industrial sectors to meet hydrogen sector demand along its value chain and thus capture the majority of the added value created, ensuring substantial socio-economic returns. However, hydrogen's attractiveness faces significant environmental realities. The substantial quantity of water consumed by water electrolysis is a considerable challenge, especially for a country facing major drought episodes. Finally, hydrogen production requires the production of substantial quantities of renewable electricity, which risks conflicting with Morocco's objectives for decarbonizing its electricity mix, which remains heavily dependent on coal.
Recap of hydrogen fundamentals
Existing production processes
There are 4 processes for producing hydrogen: natural gas reforming (the most common), coal and biomass gasification, and finally, water electrolysis. This last process separates hydrogen and oxygen from water using electricity and currently represents less than 1% of global hydrogen production. Yet it is the only potential source of green hydrogen (in cases where the electricity used is decarbonized), and thus represents hope for decarbonizing many sectors [1]
Current hydrogen market and future uses
Total hydrogen production was approximately 100 million tonnes in 2020 and could be multiplied by 5 in carbon neutrality scenarios. Thus, in its Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects a growing role for low-carbon hydrogen in sectors where emissions are difficult to reduce and where other mitigation measures may not be available or would be difficult to implement. This includes notably heavy industry (production of nitrogenous fertilizers after transformation into ammonia, cement manufacturing, replacement of coal in steelmaking), passenger transport, maritime transport (in the form of methanol or ammonia for container ships), and aviation (in the form of sustainable aviation fuels).
Multiple reference organizations agree in assigning to low-carbon hydrogen (blue or green) a growing role in our future decarbonized economies. We should note, however, that in all cases, the CO2 emission reductions made possible by hydrogen remain relatively modest compared to other climate change mitigation measures such as sobriety or the massive deployment of renewable energy.
The key: competitive and decarbonized electricity
One of the main cost factors for green hydrogen is the renewable electricity needed to power the electrolyzers. The production costs of green hydrogen are currently 4 to 10 times higher than those of grey hydrogen (4-12 USD/kg versus 1-2 USD/kg), even at the most favorable production sites. Expected reductions in production costs for renewable energy and electrolyzers will increase the competitiveness of green hydrogen in the long term. Thanks to its strong sunshine and high wind exposure, Morocco has significant renewable potential that gives it a central place in the future of global hydrogen.
Morocco's particular position
Available land, renewable energy potential, and proximity to Europe
Morocco has all the assets to become a green hydrogen champion, thanks to its abundant renewable resources, available land, and stable legal framework. Morocco's quasi-unique characteristic is the abundance of sites combining exceptional resources for both solar[2] and wind[3] power, ensuring perfect hybridization for electrolyzer operation and the production of ultra-competitive green hydrogen on a global scale. Moreover, Morocco is a major consumer of hydrogen and its derivative products (the Phosboucraa consumes significant volumes of ammonia and nitrogenous fertilizers derived from hydrogen), and could thus address its domestic consumption with green hydrogen produced on its territory. Finally, its proximity to Europe, which has set very ambitious objectives for developing the hydrogen sector and associated initiatives (for example, see the recent legal obligations for incorporating sustainable aviation fuels), makes it a candidate for export, which is of major strategic interest to the Kingdom, which can transition from an importer of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) to an exporter of green molecules. This perspective is all the more relevant as a quarter of global hydrogen demand could be subject to international trade in 2050.
"Morocco Offer": an ambitious strategy
While hydrogen has been widely used since the mid-twentieth century in many industrial sectors, it is today experiencing renewed interest for economic decarbonization. Thus, demand for this "green gold" is expected to increase fivefold by 2050, driven by environmental concerns and the climate crisis.
Morocco is positioning itself as an ideal candidate to become a leader in green hydrogen production, taking advantage of both its vast solar and wind energy resources and its strategic geography, at the crossroads of Africa and Europe. The Moroccan government has recently established an ambitious framework with the Morocco Offer published in March 2024, which aims to support the development of the hydrogen sector in the country.
This article proposes to explore the technological and environmental aspects of hydrogen production and uses before analyzing Morocco's assets in this sector and the long-term economic prospects it offers for the country. While the opportunities for Morocco to assert itself on the global hydrogen stage are numerous and promising, the substantial volumes that will be necessary for the climate transition represent important technical and environmental challenges. These must be considered in an objective and informed manner so that we can collectively make the best choices to support the fight against climate change.
Indeed, green hydrogen will play an important role in Morocco in the coming years thanks to its many assets (significant potential for renewable electricity, low population density in certain areas, and geographic proximity to Europe). The Morocco Offer, which plans to reserve nearly 1 million hectares for this sector, demonstrates the country's strong ambition for developing this new sector. By emphasizing projects with significant positive externalities for the Moroccan economy, the country intends to develop several industrial sectors to meet hydrogen sector demand along its value chain and thus capture the majority of the added value created, ensuring substantial socio-economic returns. However, hydrogen's attractiveness faces significant environmental realities. The substantial quantity of water consumed by water electrolysis is a considerable challenge, especially for a country facing major drought episodes. Finally, hydrogen production requires the production of substantial quantities of renewable electricity, which risks conflicting with Morocco's objectives for decarbonizing its electricity mix, which remains heavily dependent on coal.
Recap of hydrogen fundamentals
Existing production processes
There are 4 processes for producing hydrogen: natural gas reforming (the most common), coal and biomass gasification, and finally, water electrolysis. This last process separates hydrogen and oxygen from water using electricity and currently represents less than 1% of global hydrogen production. Yet it is the only potential source of green hydrogen (in cases where the electricity used is decarbonized), and thus represents hope for decarbonizing many sectors [1]
Current hydrogen market and future uses
Total hydrogen production was approximately 100 million tonnes in 2020 and could be multiplied by 5 in carbon neutrality scenarios. Thus, in its Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects a growing role for low-carbon hydrogen in sectors where emissions are difficult to reduce and where other mitigation measures may not be available or would be difficult to implement. This includes notably heavy industry (production of nitrogenous fertilizers after transformation into ammonia, cement manufacturing, replacement of coal in steelmaking), passenger transport, maritime transport (in the form of methanol or ammonia for container ships), and aviation (in the form of sustainable aviation fuels).
Multiple reference organizations agree in assigning to low-carbon hydrogen (blue or green) a growing role in our future decarbonized economies. We should note, however, that in all cases, the CO2 emission reductions made possible by hydrogen remain relatively modest compared to other climate change mitigation measures such as sobriety or the massive deployment of renewable energy.
The key: competitive and decarbonized electricity
One of the main cost factors for green hydrogen is the renewable electricity needed to power the electrolyzers. The production costs of green hydrogen are currently 4 to 10 times higher than those of grey hydrogen (4-12 USD/kg versus 1-2 USD/kg), even at the most favorable production sites. Expected reductions in production costs for renewable energy and electrolyzers will increase the competitiveness of green hydrogen in the long term. Thanks to its strong sunshine and high wind exposure, Morocco has significant renewable potential that gives it a central place in the future of global hydrogen.
Morocco's particular position
Available land, renewable energy potential, and proximity to Europe
Morocco has all the assets to become a green hydrogen champion, thanks to its abundant renewable resources, available land, and stable legal framework. Morocco's quasi-unique characteristic is the abundance of sites combining exceptional resources for both solar[2] and wind[3] power, ensuring perfect hybridization for electrolyzer operation and the production of ultra-competitive green hydrogen on a global scale. Moreover, Morocco is a major consumer of hydrogen and its derivative products (the Phosboucraa consumes significant volumes of ammonia and nitrogenous fertilizers derived from hydrogen), and could thus address its domestic consumption with green hydrogen produced on its territory. Finally, its proximity to Europe, which has set very ambitious objectives for developing the hydrogen sector and associated initiatives (for example, see the recent legal obligations for incorporating sustainable aviation fuels), makes it a candidate for export, which is of major strategic interest to the Kingdom, which can transition from an importer of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) to an exporter of green molecules. This perspective is all the more relevant as a quarter of global hydrogen demand could be subject to international trade in 2050.