Evaluation of the Wind Energy Potential in Morocco

Abstract

AbstractLately, renewable energy sources have been an issue of renewed interest in developing countries, and Morocco imported about 90% of its energy needs. For this reason, the government has made a commitment to improving the security of the electricity supply, reducing dependence on exports of electric energy, and expanding the use of renewable sources. In particular, the development of onshore wind energy production through the installation of 11 wind power plants that contribute to the production of renewable energy is equivalent to 3,685 MW in 2019, including 1,215 MW of wind energy. This chapter provides a Moroccan renewable energy evaluation, in which the Geographical characteristics and the renewable energy context of Morocco are presented. Moreover, the integrated wind program (IWP) investigated, where all Moroccan wind energy production projects are presented in terms of Installed Capacity, Technology, etc. Finally, the monthly wind energy densities have been shown during 2019 using the Weibull distribution function to evaluate the wind performance for each project wind city in Morocco. The results demonstrate that the southern cities are the most suitable site for wind projects, which provides a high-power density.KeywordsMoroccoPower densityRenewable energyWeibull distributionWind energyWind potential