Renewable Energy Firm Grupotec Exits Morocco, Refocuses on European Projects

After more than a decade of activity, Grupotec has decided to leave Morocco. The Valencian company established itself in the African market in 2003 when the renewable energy sector was not yet very developed in Morocco. It provided engineering services for ships and production plants for large companies. However, it encountered difficulties in establishing itself, Andrés Douireau, director of the company’s office in Morocco, told Valencia Plaza. These difficulties ultimately led it to close the Moroccan subsidiary and focus on the European market.

"There were constant difficulties and administrative obstacles. It’s a complex country where the rules of the game change and in the end, we’re not comfortable," explain Grupotec sources, deploring the delays in payment of invoices by the Moroccan public administration. They ended up finding European clients in the kingdom, with whom they collaborated well. "The activity was very profitable. But in the end, the blockages and complex situations pushed us to leave," they said.

To read: Repsol to Exit Morocco as Part of Global Restructuring

Yet the subsidiary was generating annual revenues between 1.5 and 3 million euros, depending on the year, and had good growth prospects in Morocco due to the government’s interest in renewable energy. In any case, the company’s largest project volume is concentrated in Spain and other European countries where Grupotec now wants to increase its turnover.

The company also has interests in the Caribbean and the Persian Gulf where it has recently launched its first projects. It is developing several energy projects in the United Kingdom, Italy, Jamaica, Colombia, Chile and Mexico and is preparing to launch its first projects soon in Saudi Arabia. In Spain, where it has the largest project portfolio, Grupotec has six projects under construction with capacities ranging from 15 to 50 MW, and a total of 215 MW under execution.