Rural electrification reaches 72% in 2004
The rate of rural electrification in Morocco has reached 72% by the end of 2004 and is scheduled to be brought to 81% this year, said the Moroccan power office (ONE).
In a statement released at the end of the annual meeting of its administrative board held in Rabat under the chairmanship of prime minister, Driss Jettou, ONE says 187,000 households in rural areas were connected to the electric grid in 2004. The office projects to raise this number to 222,000 households in 2005.
A strong demand was recorded in 2004 ("7%), says ONE which also reports a balance of its accounts despite the rise in world coal prices and the drop in electricity prices.
Up to 56.4% of this demand was met by the production of plants conceded to private operators, 35% by ONE-operated plants and 8.6% by imports through the connection with Spain.
In 2004, water-generated electricity reached 1,591 giga-watts, a rise of 10.4% compared to 2003.
Meanwhile, ONE customers increased by 10,6% to exceed 2.6 million subscribers, in addition to 2.02 million subscribers of other public and private companies. The total of electricity subscribers nationwide is estimated at 4.672.000 customers by end 2004.
The office reports 2003 investments to be worth some 4.2 billion MAD (around US$ 466 million), posting a rise by 23% compared to 2003. It projects to invest 4.7 billion MAD (US$ 522 million) in 2004 as part of a program of 30 billion DH (US$ 3.3 billion) extending between 2005 and 2010.
ONE also reports that the new combined-cycle power plant of Tahaddart in northern Morocco and the pumped storage hydroelectric facility in Afourar, central Morocco, will be operational in 2005 while construction of a wind-generated power plant in Essaouira (southern Atlantic city) will start, the procurement for the building of a thermo-solar plant in Ain Beni Mathar (north-eastern) will be awarded and the tender for a wind-generated electricity plant in Tangiers will be launched in the same year.
The administrative council gave the green light for a combined-cycle plant near the Al-Wahda dam in the northern region of Ouezzane, to be operational between 2008 and 2009 as well as the extension of the Tahaddart plant through a second unit of 400 Megawatts.