Massive Public-Private Investment to Strengthen Moroccan Infrastructure 🏗️🇲🇦🔌
TAQA Morocco, in partnership with Nareva and the Mohammed VI Investment Fund, has unveiled a transformative MAD 130 billion (EUR 12.5 billion) programme to overhaul Morocco’s power and water infrastructure by 2030. This initiative stems from a bilateral declaration between Morocco and the UAE and features three signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Moroccan government and ONEE (Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable). 🤝🌍📄
Scope and Highlights of the Programme ⚙️📈🔍
The initiative will deliver the following integrated infrastructure components:
- 3 GW of HVDC transmission infrastructure between southern and central Morocco
- 1.2 GW of renewable energy projects with a PPA signed with ONEE
- 1.5 GW of CCGT capacity, including:
- Acquisition of the 400 MW CCGT in Tahaddart
- Development of 1.1 GW of greenfield CCGT
- 2.5 million m³/day seawater desalination capacity
- 2.2 million m³/day water highway transmission projects
Ownership will be split equally between TAQA Morocco and Nareva, with a 15% stake held by the Mohammed VI Investment Fund and other public actors. 💼📊🏛️
Financial Modelling Imperatives: Complexity and Integration 📉🧮📘
This programme exemplifies the scale and complexity of financial modelling in national infrastructure initiatives. Key technical and strategic financial considerations include: 🔍💰📂
- Multi-Asset Integration: Modelling synergies between renewable energy, gas-fired generation, desalination, and transmission.
- PPAs and Capacity Payments: Modelling structured payments with ONEE, especially under long-term take-or-pay and cost-reflective tariffs.
- Desalination-Coupled Power Demand: Integrated energy and water demand profiles, factoring ancillary loads and energy recovery systems.
- HVDC Transmission Modelling: Capital cost amortisation, technical losses, and grid balancing benefits.
- Blended Financing Structures: Incorporation of equity from TAQA, Nareva, and sovereign funds, plus concessional debt from multilateral and regional DFIs.
- Multi-Year Forecasting: 25- to 30-year projections involving CAPEX phasing, O&M profiles, and regulatory indexing.
Strategic Impact and Replicability 🌱🔄🌍
This joint programme sets a precedent for public-private coordination in North Africa, demonstrating how diversified infrastructure—spanning water and power—can be mobilized with long-term funding. The integrated nature of the project offers a high-value case study in how CCGTs can complement renewables to stabilise baseload, while powering critical infrastructure like desalination plants. 💧⚡📉
Conclusion: A Benchmark for Infrastructure Investment in Africa 🧭💡📌
This initiative is more than a project; it is a platform for long-term, climate-resilient infrastructure development in Morocco. For financial modelling experts, it presents a unique challenge: how to coherently model and structure mega-infrastructure across multiple asset types, regulatory regimes, and capital sources. 🧠📈🔧
Finteam 