According to Mines and Energy Minister Mohamed Boutaleb, renewable energies are expected to contribute 10% to the national energy balance by 2012. At the moment renewables only contribute some 4%.Speaking at a study day in Ifrane, the minister said that solar energy is expected to contribute 8% of the global rural electrification program. He said that the diversification of energy sources and the development of renewable energies are among the priorities of Morocco's energy strategy.
The minister underlined that the strategy includes new projects to produce electricity from solar and wind energies. The Plan aims to provide services of sustainable energy in the rural world, equip 150,000 houses, construct 1,000 energy houses, and efficiently manage energy consumption by the industrial sector.
At the same time Morocco's National Electricity Office (ONE) announced that it has won a $16.5m contract for electrification of 550 villages in northern Senegal. According to the concession contract ONE will distribute and manage electricity distribution for 25 years. The Moroccan company aims at reaching 24,000 electricity-service subscribers in three years.
According to a report carried by Maghreb Arabe Press, local authorities of the Wilaya of Rabat on Saturday intercepted 238 illegal sub-Saharan migrants in raids throughout Rabat
Nine other people suspected of being human smugglers were also arrested. Other unconfirmed reports claim that the migrants were removed in six buses and transported to Oujda.
Several thousand Moroccans took to the streets of the capital Rabat yesterday for a demonstration to express growing anger over rising prices of transport, basic foodstuffs, water and electricity in the country. The demonstration was organised by left-wing and consumer-advocacy groups. The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "No to privatisation" and "Don't touch my bread" and carried banners saying: "Don't touch citizens' buying power".
The organisers - a group formed this year called the Alliance Against Price Increases - said 12,000 people turned out for the demonstration, but police said the number was no higher than 6,000.
Sporadic protests have erupted in recent months in Morocco's largest cities over increases in household bills. Protests against utilities company Lyonnaise des Eaux de Casablanca (Lydec) won a concession from the firm to trim prices for low-income consumers. Lydec is controlled by French utility company Suez and since 1997 has managed the water and electricity supplies for Casablanca.
The Moroccan government is clearly disturbed by the demonstrations and while it already subsidises fuel and many essential foodstuffs to make them more affordable for the population, has said it may reverse some of the recent price increases.
According to police sources, the ambassador of Peru in Rabat and his wife were both injured in a road accident that occurred on Friday afternoon. The accident took place outside of Tangier when the diplomat's vehicle left the road and overturned in a four-meter-deep ravine. The Ambassador and his wife have been taken to a private clinic for treatment and there has been no information released as to their condition.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
1 comment:
I wish Yemen too, can think in this direction. Such renewable energy, like solar and wind is what the future is all about.
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