Morocco to host energy summit as transition to clean power picks up

The solar power station of Ain Beni Mathar in Morocco. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are boosting renewable capacity amid the transition to clean energy. Abdelhak Sanna / AFP

Morocco will host an energy conference on March 14 focusing on energy transition as countries in the Middle East and North Africa region boost renewable capacity with new projects.

The UAE will be the guest of honour at the event and will be represented by a high-level delegation led by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and the UAE's Special Envoy for Climate Change, Al Ain news reported on Friday.

Several countries in the Mena region – including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Oman – are developing new renewable energy projects, with a focus on solar energy.

The UAE, Opec's third-largest oil producer, plans to invest Dh600 billion ($163bn) by 2050 in renewable and clean energy capacity, and achieve net zero emissions in the next three decades.

Morocco is also building new renewable projects. In 2019, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar won a tender to construct an 800-megawatt solar power plant in the North African country.

The conference will be held in Morocco’s capital Rabat and will be organised by the Energy Federation in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Transition and Sustainable Development in Morocco.

Participants will discuss ways to promote clean and sustainable energy alternatives amid the transition, according to the report.

The Mena region has the resources and vision to unlock huge economic potential as the world remains focused on the transition to a lower-carbon economy, according to Dr Al Jaber.

“The energy transition to a lower-carbon future represents a huge economic opportunity that we must seize using every lever available,” Dr Al Jaber, who is also managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, said last year.

The UAE will host the 28th UN global climate talks in 2023.