Morocco’s Electricity Demand Plummets 15.5% Amid COVID-19 Industrial Slowdown

9 April 2020 – bySylvanus@Bladi · 1 min read

The National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) is hit hard by the coronavirus. The company recorded a worrying 15.5% drop in electricity consumption as of March 31.

The latest available statistics on energy consumption indicate that electricity demand fell by -15.5% as of March 31, 2020 in the industrial sector taken in the broad sense. This situation is explained, among other things, by the fact that more than 113,000 companies have declared a temporary cessation of activities to the CNSS.

In addition to the drop in energy consumption, ONEE could face other difficulties. This includes the issue of VAT credit. The Office is responsible for financing the VAT credit transferred by private electricity producers who are its partners. There are concession contracts between ONEE and these producers.

"This credit comes from the gap between the VAT rate applied to coal (20%) and that of electricity (14%), which can only be exceeded by harmonizing the rates," specifies L’Économiste.

Category: Economy

Keywords:

Energy Consumption VAT National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water