Meet Africa’s largest offshore wind project

From the newsletter

Morocco has unveiled plans for its first offshore wind farm, a 1,000 MW project near the coastal city of Essaouira. Construction is set to begin by 2029. This comes at a time when Morocco is about to launch Africa's first wind turbine blade manufacturing plant, which has an annual production capacity of 600 sets of turbines.

• The Essaouira project is one of the first investments by the Mediterranean Blue Partnership (MBP), a multi-donor fund created to support the sustainable blue economy across the southern Mediterranean and Red Sea regions.

• Morocco's low labour costs will reduce turbine production expenses. This, combined with shorter supply chain costs, has the potential to reduce wind energy costs and increase investor appeal.

More details

• The city of Essouira was primarily chosen for its strong, consistent winds, with average speeds of up to 11 metres per second. Despite these excellent coastal wind conditions, the country has mainly focused on onshore wind plants, which currently have an installed capacity of 2,120 MW, ranking it third in Africa. However, it has huge potential to generate more than 25,000 MW along its expansive coastline stretching over 3,500 km.

• The country aims for renewables to account for 52% of its electricity by 2030, up from the current 38%. Achieving this target requires leveraging its diverse renewable energy potential, including wind.

• Previous projects, such as those undertaken by Siemens Gamesa, involved establishing local manufacturing plants and sourcing turbines from them. Although Siemens recently closed the plant after completing its construction contracts, this approach significantly helped in reducing project costs and ensuring a steady supply of turbines.

• Unlike solar panels, wind turbines face serious challenges, especially regarding transportation due to their blade size. They are costly, time-consuming, and require special infrastructure for transportation, particularly in inland areas. Most road infrastructure cannot support transportation without modification.

• The sheer size of this project, coupled with other planned developments, could strongly encourage Morocco to source its turbines from a local plant. There's already a plant built by Chinese manufacturer Aeolon Technology, which is set to begin operations soon. Its strategic location at a port makes it particularly efficient for transporting turbines by sea for offshore installations.

• But building offshore projects can be quite challenging, presenting a unique set of difficulties, including harsh weather conditions and complex logistics, which can lead to increased costs, delays, and potential risks if not properly addressed.

Our take

• If Morocco chooses to source its turbine blades domestically, it could significantly cut supply chain costs and lower overall project expenses. Given the scale of this project and the likelihood of future developments, increased production could lead to economies of scale, passing on these reduced costs to upcoming projects.

• Wind turbine technology costs have been coming down, and are projected to reduce by 35-41% by 2050. This could open up more investments in offshore wind energy as it becomes more attractive to investors. 

• Morocco's strong coastal winds are an opportunity and a challenge at the same time. A challenge in that they can complicate the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects. Operating in such conditions demands specialised vessels and high-level engineering, increasing both costs and logistical complexities.