ONEE said this Monday.

TAQA Morocco, a unit of Abu Dhabi's TAQA Group, said the deals represented a total investment of 130 billion dirhams ($14.05 billion). TAQA Morocco shares were earlier suspended from trading on the Casablanca stock exchange pending the announcement.

The projects, to be completed by 2030, include the construction of a 1 400 km high-voltage transmission line with a capacity of 3 000 megawatts linking Western Sahara to central Morocco, ONEE said in a statement.

The consortium also plans to build desalination plants across the country with a combined annual capacity of 900 million cubic meters, and a waterway connecting the Sebou River in the northeast to the drought-hit Oum Rabia River in the south.

In addition, it will develop 1 200 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity and construct a combined-cycle gas power plant at the Tahaddart site in northwestern Morocco, with a capacity of nearly 1 500 megawatts.

The projects will be equally owned by TAQA Morocco and Nareva, with a 15% stake held by the Mohammed VI Investment Fund and other public entities, TAQA Morocco said in a statement.

ONEE said the consortium would seek both domestic and international financing for the projects, but did not provide a timeline for securing funds.

The agreements follow commitments made during King Mohammed VI's 2023 visit to the United Arab Emirates aimed at deepening Moroccan-Emirati co-operation.

Morocco is seeking to reduce its reliance on coal by boosting natural gas use and accelerating its renewable energy strategy, which is targeting 52% of installed capacity to come from renewables by 2030, up from 45% currently.

Renewable capacity currently stands at 5.5 GW.

--Reuters--