Morocco Solar Wind Energy Storage Water Battery 300MW

Morocco no longer wants to simply produce electricity from the sun and wind. It now seeks to conserve this energy so it can use it when renewable production decreases or demand increases.

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This is the objective of the Ifahsa project, a pumped-storage hydroelectricity station that will be built in the north of the kingdom, near Chefchaouen. The World Bank approved financing of 265 million dollars to support its implementation, reports El Español.

The principle involves using surplus solar or wind electricity to pump water to a reservoir located at a higher elevation. When the grid needs energy, the water flows back down through turbines that in turn produce electricity.

The installation functions like a gigantic battery. Energy is not stored in lithium, but in the form of water stored at altitude.

A 300-megawatt reserve

Ifahsa will have a capacity of 300 megawatts. The facility should facilitate the integration of at least an additional gigawatt of solar and wind capacity to the Moroccan electrical grid.

This technology should notably allow recovery of some of the renewable electricity that would otherwise be lost when production exceeds consumption. It will also provide a reserve that can be mobilized at night, when solar panels stop producing, or during periods of low wind.

According to estimates advanced around the project, the installation could prevent the release of nearly 1.7 million tons of CO₂ per year. Its construction would also represent approximately 820 direct annual jobs and could encourage nearly one billion dollars of private investment in new renewable projects.

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The choice of the Chefchaouen region is explained by its terrain. A pumped-storage facility requires a significant altitude difference between two reservoirs so that water can store sufficient potential energy.