Morocco, Netherlands announce ‘promising’ green hydrogen production partnerships – The North Africa Post

Morocco and the Netherlands are boosting green hydrogen production cooperation, announced by delegations from both countries following a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the World Hydrogen Summit & Exhibition 2022 in Rotterdam.

After the exchange on perspectives of cooperation between different actors of the ecosystem in Morocco (and the Netherlands) in green hydrogen, partnerships between Moroccan and Dutch operators should soon be possible.

Representatives of the Moroccan Embassy, Iresen, Solar Cluster and Masen, a Moroccan renewable energy company, were on the Moroccan side. The Dutch delegation included Vopak Shell, Vopak Shell, Impact Energy and Proton Ventures.

Dutch sector actors saw “significant potential” for Morocco to develop this new sector of energy transition, during a roundtable discussion on the prospects for Moroccan-Dutch cooperation in this field.

This meeting was an opportunity for Morocco to showcase its achievements in renewable energy as well as to exchange ideas on future partnerships between the public-private sector of both countries.

“We are pleased to welcome countries from different regions to this summit, which brings together more than 6,000 participants this year,” said Edu Willemse, Senior Energy Advisor at RVO.

Willemse added that “the strong participation of the Moroccan delegation with public and private actors aims to facilitate the development of new partnerships between organizations in our two countries,” as the official is currently overseeing a trade promotion program for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

RVO’s energy advisor Claire Hooft Graafland echoed this view, noting the significant prospects for cooperation in renewable energy between Morocco and the Netherlands, and Europe in general.

“We have a great need for green hydrogen and we can not provide all the production here in Europe,” she specified, noting that “Morocco has a lot of solar and wind potential to invest in, and we believe that the conditions are right for the production of green hydrogen.”

According to Graafland the mutual benefits of such cooperation, particularly with a world-leading, producer country like the Netherlands, will be felt.

For his part, the representative of FME, Jelle Blekxtoon noted that cooperation between both Kingdoms has the potential of being highly efficient and low-cost, explaining that “Moroccan and Dutch companies have every interest in working together to meet the growing demand for green hydrogen in the Netherlands and other countries, if we work together in the right way, we can go further in this field.”

The transition to a hydrogen economy is essential in order to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

By that time, the molecule should account for 15% of the world’s final energy consumption, compared with almost zero today, according to the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency. According to Bloomberg NEF, its share could even reach 20%.

Like fossil fuels, anyone can make hydrogen. But conditions and costs vary. This is where Morocco can really play a significant role in global production.