MOROCCO Law and Practice Contributed by: Wacef Bentaibi, Benoit Pape, Chaimaâ Bouhami and Maxime Masurier, Gide Loyrette Nouel
age, transport and distribution of gas, with ANRE ensuring equitable access to infrastructure. These evolutions may ultimately have an impact on the development of new power generation using gas fire technology. 1.8 Unique Aspects of the Power Industry Interesting aspects of the Moroccan power industry include the following. • A hybrid market structure dominated by one verti- cally integrated operator: ONEE remains pre- sent across the entire value chain – production, transport and distribution – while acting as single buyer and grid operator, and was without effec- tive accounting separation until ANRE’s Decision No 04/25 of February 2025. This coexists with a liberalised renewable energy market (Law 13-09) in which IPPs sell directly to industrial consumers via corporate PPAs. • A fragmented regulatory landscape in consolida- tion: Oversight was split between the MTEDD (policy and authorisations), the Ministry of Interior (municipal distribution) and ANRE (tariffs and grid access for the free market only). The December 2024 Royal Instructions to transform ANRE into a full-scope energy authority covering electricity, gas and hydrogen signal a move towards unified regulation. • Simultaneous restructuring of distribution and transport: Morocco is currently undergoing a paral- lel overhaul of both its distribution segment (crea- tion of 12 regional SRMs open to 90% private capi- tal, replacing ONEE, municipal utilities and private concessions) and its transmission segment (recom- mended unbundling of ONEE into an independent TSO). 2. Market Structure, Supply and Pricing 2.1 The Wholesale Electricity Market Absence of a Wholesale Electricity Market Morocco does not have an organised wholesale electricity market. There is no power exchange, spot market, or day-ahead or intra-day trading platform.
Instead, electricity procurement operates under two parallel structures. • Regulated segment (single-buyer model):ONEE purchases electricity from IPPs and Masen under long-term PPAs and from imports via interconnec- tions, then resells wholesale to distribution utilities (now SRMs) and supplies certain end users direct- ly. Both price levels are State-administered through a ministerial order fixing wholesale and retail tariffs. ANRE does not set energy sale prices; its tariff competence is limited to grid-use tariffs (TURT/ TURD) under Articles 14 to 16 of Law 48-15. • Open segment (Laws 13-09 and 82-21):Private renewable energy producers may sell directly to eligible consumers connected to the national grid through bilateral contracts at freely negotiated prices. However, the competitive market segment remains relatively small and concentrated on a few major industrial consumers connected to the trans- mission network. Surplus electricity from renew- able producers and self-producers is purchased by the relevant grid operator at the tariff fixed annually by ANRE. Capacity and Energy Markets Morocco does not operate a separate capacity market or energy-only market. System adequacy is ensured through ONEE’s generation master plans, long-term PPAs with built-in capacity payments (take-or-pay structures), and ANRE’s approval of capacity hosting and transmission investment programmes. There is no nodal pricing. The transmission tariff (TURT) is set uniformly by ANRE, and the distribution tariff (TURD) applies at the medium-voltage level. High-Load Consumers Morocco does not have a specific regulatory frame- work addressing high-load consumers such as data centres. Such facilities are subject to the same tariff structures and market access options as other large industrial consumers. ONEE’s regulated tariff structure is differentiated by customer category. For large accounts (high and very- high voltage), tariffs are built on subscribed capac- ity and time-of-use bands, with a fixed charge and
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