BrazilConsultants help Morocco with EV charging infrastructure roadmap
As part of the country’s net zero drive, Morocco is keen to boost its infrastructure supporting electrical vehicles. Guiding the country’s aspirations is a strategic roadmap developed in collaboration with a European management consultancy.
The roll-out of charging infrastructure and electric vehicles in Morocco is still in the early stages. But with sustainability ambitions high in the North African country – which aims to use over 50% renewable energy by 2030 – electrification of the nation’s transport is a vital milestone.
Supporting the ambitions in Morocco, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (an executive body of the Dutch government) commissioned a consulting firm to help Morocco’s policy makers develop a roadmap for the country’s drive to more electrical vehicle charging points.
Morocco is host to 26 million people, but currently only provides access to 120 charging stations – of which just five are fast chargers. With one charger for every 4.6 million residents, it is not particularly surprising that the number of electric vehicles in the country is under 1%.
The situation could not have been more different to that of the Netherlands, from where EVConsult hails. However, despite the different starting place, the firm’s experts were determined to help deliver the change – encouraged by the fact Morocco has “an excellent road network and is a global player in the production of cars.”
This presented a key opportunity – as according to the consulting firm, by 2030, Morocco is likely to be Africa’s largest producer of cars; in part due to its fortunate geology.
“Morocco is rich in phosphorus producers, because by far most of the phosphate is located in the country,” noted a release from EVConsult. “This is important and represents a unique opportunity for battery production for EVs and local storage of electricity in the energy grid. In addition, the share of renewable energy in the Moroccan energy mix is growing strongly due to the enormous amount of solar energy that the country produces.”
A centralised and public-private approach
After extensive research by EVConsult, the team has drawn up a detailed roadmap with actions, roles and responsibilities and a timeline. Leading up to 2025, the firm advised Morocco to draw up a location proposal for the fast charging network and to make the first preparations for issuing public transport tenders for electric buses.
At the same time, the roadmap advises to implement a centralised body overseeing the coordination of actions and for knowledge sharing.
A central government committee is yet to be established for the matter, but EVConsult believes it would help align important stakeholders from both the public and private electrical vehicles sector. The body will also serve as a knowledge centre which will lead the development of frameworks, training courses for technical personnel, and learning networks.
Meanwhile, for the roll out of electric vehicles in Morocco, EVConsult recommends a hybrid market model. This would see the Moroccan state take the lead, intervening to play a major role in the roll-out of charging infrastructure in the short term. In the long term, between 2025 and 2030, market parties can take over more tasks from the government, including operation.
In this way, the government itself takes charge of a central and accelerated scaling up of the charging infrastructure and gives an economic impulse by allowing companies in the nascent sector to grow.
This stage would also see a national charging plan introduced. A public charging network will be rolled out in five major cities, with 60% of the charging infrastructure coming from local production facilities. In the phase that follows, the market for electrical vehicles and charging infrastructure will be further optimised.
According to EVConsult, the roadmap “provides concrete tools for realising the sustainability ambitions of the Moroccan government. Moreover, this approach gives the local economy a boost and offers numerous opportunities to collaborate with other African countries and beyond.”
