Sahara Wind at the MEDCOP CLIMAT Tanger July 18-19 2016.

Morocco hosted the MEDCOP Mediterranean Forum Climate - Tangier 2016. The event took place in the run-up of the COP22 Marrakech November 7-18^th 2016 22th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Held at the gate of the Mediterranean in the city of Tangier, the second edition of the MEDCOP Forum brought over 2,000 experts from academia, private sector and civil society. Over two days, on July 18-19 2016, this event enabled the sharing and evaluation of various Mediterranean region contributions. The aim of the forum was to develop and consolidate action plans for local authorities, NGOs, associations and companies in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Conférence Marketing pays : Modéliser la Marque Maroc.

Sahara Wind a pris part aux travaux de la 1ère édition de la conférence sur la marque Maroc. Ainsi, la Session 4 intitulée « La COP22 : Quelles opportunités pour la Marque Maroc? » a été modéré par son Directeur Général, Khalid Benhamou. Organisée conjointement par l’Institut Amadeus et Maroc export, cette conférence s'est déroulée à Casablanca le 27 mai 2016.

Sahara Wind’s regional integrated approach to secure investments presented at the Energy Charter Executive Training Programmes for Young Energy Professionals on May 17-20, 2016 in Kraków, Poland.

At the invitation of the International Energy Charter, Sahara Wind’s “Investment security and securing the necessary investments in the energy sector: how do we get there?” was presented to Young Energy Professionals. The eighth edition of the Executive Training Programmes focused on energy security challenges in light of on-going energy transition in wider-Europe and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

As a first step in implementing the Paris Agreement -and ahead of its Presidency- Morocco, along with 175 nations participated in the high-level signing ceremony which took place at the United Nations on April 22^nd 2016.

In hosting the upcoming COP-22 global climate conference in Marrakech, the Kingdom of Morocco delivered its statement. Backed by ambitious, comprehensive Intended Nationally Determined Contributions Morocco is on track to exceed its 2020 renewable energy targets and achieve 52% of renewable electricity generation capacity by 2030. In order for these objectives to be binding, countries will need to adopt the “Paris Agreement” within their own legal systems, through ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. The agreement will enter into force when joined by at least 55 countries, which together represent at least 55% of global emissions. The ceremony took place on International Mother Earth Day.

MOROCCO: A consortium of Enel Green Power (EGP), Nareva and Siemens has been officially named as preferred bidders to develop five projects in Morocco, totalling 850MW

Backing the Sahara Wind project's regional applied research work, the world’s biggest power-equipment maker is building a trial technology that turns wind power into ammonia gas, a product that could clean up pollution from the fertilizer industry.

A plant near Oxford, England, makes ammonia by electrolysis instead of through the traditional reaction fed by fossil fuels. If fed by idled renewable power plants, the process would make emissions-free fertilizer used by farmers everywhere. Besides reducing carbon pollution worldwide, the technology could absorb excess output from wind and solar farms as well as store electricity in the form of a usable gas. Siemens estimates it could help cut emissions by 360 million tons a year, more than the annual carbon output of France. Although still expensive, Siemens reckons technology costs will come down over time, especially if the market for hydrogen-powered vehicles grows.

100 millions d’euros pour une usine de pales.

La future usine de Siemens devra entrer en service dès 2017 avec une production prévue de 650 pales par an. Le groupe allemand Siemens vient d’annoncer la signature d’un protocole d’accord pour la construction au Maroc d’un site de production de pales pour éoliennes. Le nombre d’emplois à créer est de 700 avec un investissement prévu de 100 millions d’euros, soit l’équivalent de 1,1 milliard de DH. Son entrée en service est prévue pour le printemps 2017. 

Presented at the EU and MPCs Cooperation in the Energy Sector International Workshop in Athens, Greece on 22-23 February 2016

During this event focused on the cooperation between EU and Mediterranean Partner Countries, Sahara Wind presented its integrated project development framework. Funded under the MARE project and organized by the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving - CRES, this workshop discussed challenges, opportunities as well as barriers to develop cooperation in the Energy Sector between the EU and MPC countries.

Sahara Wind débat sur le "Secteur énergétique et son intégration en Afrique du Nord" le 29 Février 2016 à Casablanca.

Organisé par la Banque Africaine de Développement et l'Union du Maghreb Arabe ce débat avait pour objectif de mettre en valeur les opportunités économiques d’intégration régionale au niveau des pays du Maghreb. En utilisant les interconnexions électriques existantes au niveau du Maghreb, l’accès à l’énergie éolienne à grande échelle est possible à des prix défiant toute concurrence. Cet état des lieux a été mis en évidence par le projet Sahara Wind lors du débat sur l’intégration des filières industrielles des énergies renouvelables au niveau régional.

Sahara Wind at the 8th session of the MEDAYS Forum on November 13th 2015 in Tangier.

During this annual event, Khalid Benhamou, Managing Director Sahara Wind moderated the session on «Improving security, efficiency, sustainability and energy accessibility».

The Sahara Wind project presented at the EWEA 2015 "Supply Chain: Glocalization" session on November 17 2015 in Paris, France.

Held a few weeks before the Global Climate COP21 conference, EWEA 2015's "Supply Chain: Glocalization" session enabled the local contents analysis of the region’s operational wind power projects. These represent the MENA regions largest in terms of cumulative installed wind capacity. The session also included a thorough analysis of ONEE's current 850 MW integrated wind energy program with respect to local sourcing contents versus global supply chains. Within such frameworks, the multi Giga-Watt perspectives provided by the Sahara Wind project were evaluated. The ensuing Question & Answers session enabled the debate to be carried on with the audience.

Sahara Wind at the e-Highway2050 Final Conference - Unveiling the Electricity Highways Project Results: “Europe’s Future Secure and Sustainable Electricity Infrastructure” November 3-4, 2015 in Brussels.

The e-Highway2050 project is supported by the EU Seventh Framework Programme and is aimed at developing a methodology to support the planning of the Pan-European Transmission Network, focusing on 2020 to 2050, to ensure the reliable delivery of renewable electricity and pan-European market integration. The European Commission and the e-Highway2050 consortium invited policy makers, regulators, system operators, manufacturers, planning and academic experts to the presentation of the final results of the e-Highway2050 project. After 40 months of intense work, the project delivered its results at the end of 2015. The 3-4 November conference presented the main findings of the project and offered a forum to discuss future implementation.