The National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) invested more than 9 billion dirhams (MMDH) in 2021, with a ramp-up of major structuring projects.
“Working as a guarantor of the continuity of the country’s supply of electricity and drinking water as well as in terms of liquid sanitation in the cities and centers where it operates, in the exercise of its public service missions, ONEE has continued to develop production, transmission and distribution capacities aimed at meeting the continued growth in demand for these public services”indicates the Office in a press release.
In order to carry out this mission under the best conditions of quality and performance, and concerning the activity relating to electrical energy, the investments made in 2021 reached an amount of approximately 4.7 billion dirhams, despite of the various constraints encountered, in particular those related to the effects of the pandemic, said the same source. With regard to the electricity production activity, the installed power reached 10,968 MW, at the end of December 2021, against 10,627 MW at the end of 2020, following the commissioning of the installations of the photovoltaic solar power plants of Zagora. and Missour (80 MW) as part of the Tafilalet Photovoltaic Solar Complex (120 MW) and Oualidia Wind Farm project, under Law 13-09 (36 MW).
With regard to the activity of transporting electrical energy, the new achievements have made it possible to extend and strengthen the national network by commissioning 836 km of EHV, HV lines, thus making it possible to reach a total length of this network of around 28,350 km at the end of 2021.
These achievements were necessary to support the recovery in demand for electricity during the year 2021, which recorded an increase of 5.6% compared to the year 2020. Demand has in fact exceeded the 40 TWh mark after the regression that had marked the year 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic.
This development is explained, firstly, by the gradual recovery of economic activity in Morocco insofar as the greatest increases in consumption were observed at the level of the industrial and commercial customer segments (EHV, HT and MV ).
Similarly, the peak of the day stood at 6,710 MW against 6,440 MW in 2020, an increase of 4.2% (+270 MW). It should be emphasized that this peak in the energy demand was completely satisfied under the best safety conditions.
It should also be noted that the contribution of renewable energies to meeting demand is becoming increasingly important, with a share of 4.5% for solar production (up 20% compared to 2020) and 12. 4% for wind power generation (11% increase compared to 2020). The share of wind power production now exceeds the share of natural gas production (8.5%), and thus becomes the second most important source of production in the country.
Electricity production meeting the base load (baseload) is ensured by coal-fired power plants which are used to guarantee the security of the electricity system. These plants, which contribute 68.5% of national production, make it possible to cope with the variability of hydroelectric production and the decline in natural gas-based production, pending the commissioning of projects. in renewable energy planned or in progress.
With regard to foreign trade, the volume of exports in 2021 reached 851 GWh, corresponding to 2% of national production, i.e. the equivalent of the country’s hydroelectric production (excluding Energy Transfer Station by Pumping). These exchanges made it possible to achieve foreign currency earnings of more than 565 million Dirhams, thus recording an increase of nearly 700% compared to the year 2020. As for the volume of imports, it stood at 688 GWh, a decrease of 20% compared to the year 2020.
Thus, while continuing to work for the competitiveness of the national KWh compared to European operators, Morocco, through the harmonious development of its electricity system, marked in particular by a diversified energy mix and cooperation with European countries via the interconnections carried out , confirms the relevance of national choices in terms of sustainable development.
With regard to the drinking water and liquid sanitation activity, an envelope of approximately 4.4 billion dirhams was invested to strengthen and secure the supply of drinking water to the population in urban and rural areas and to develop liquid sanitation.
With regard to drinking water, the investment effort deployed by the Office during 2021 has made it possible to maintain the quality of service and ensure the supply of drinking water to all the cities of the Kingdom. Also, and in order to meet the growing demand for drinking water, the Office equipped, in 2021, an additional flow of 1.1 m3/s, which brought the overall equipped flow to 78.6 m3/s.
The overall production of the Office thus amounted to approximately 1.3 billion m3. In this respect, the flow equipped by the Office represents more than 94% of the national production capacity.
The total length of the drinking water production pipes reached 14,100 km, of which 430 km were laid in 2021. As for the distribution network, its overall length is around 63,000 km. The number of Office customers reached approximately 2.5 million subscribers.
In rural areas and thanks to the efforts of ONEE, the rate of access to drinking water increased from 97.8% at the end of 2020 to 98.2% at the end of 2021, thus contributing to the improvement of the quality life of the rural population.
In terms of liquid sanitation, the Office built 11 treatment plants (including 4 extensions) and proceeded with the laying of 260 km of sanitation network. Thus, at the end of 2021, ONEE has 126 wastewater treatment plants with an overall capacity of 471,400 m3/d, i.e. an additional capacity installed in 2021 of around 17,000 m3/d. In addition, the Office intervenes for the management of this service at the level of 150 cities and centers in favor of a population of the order of 6 million inhabitants.
With regard to structuring projects, several milestones characterized the year 2021 including, in particular: – The construction of the new treatment station to strengthen the drinking water supply of the city of Taroudant from the Aoulouz dam with a 17,280 m3/d;
– The completion of the extension works of the treatment plant to strengthen the drinking water supply of the town of Kelâa des Sraghnas with an additional flow of 5,184 m3/d;
– Reinforcement of the drinking water supply to the city of Tangier from the Kharroub dam by laying 23 km of raw water pipes;
– The start of the tests for the gradual commissioning of the new shared desalination station intended to supply drinking water to Greater Agadir with a start-up capacity of 50,000 m3/d to reach, upon final acceptance, a flow of 150,000 m3/d;
– Work on the new desalination plant in the city of Laâyoune for a capacity of 26,000 m3/d has been completed and the start of commissioning tests is scheduled for early 2022;
– Reinforcement of the drinking water supply to the town of Targuist and neighboring centers from the production facilities of Al Hoceima by laying 50 km of pipes;
– The completion of the extension and transformation works of the existing treatment plants of Taourirt and Berkane with an additional treatment capacity of 10,300 m3/d;
– The implementation of the Water Division’s digital transformation roadmap as part of World Bank financing, the gradual implementation of which will take place from 2022.
The achievements of the Office in the areas of drinking water and liquid sanitation have greatly contributed to the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus (covid-19) in the Kingdom given that access to water and hygiene measures are considered an essential means of protection against this pandemic, the statement concludes.
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