MOROCCO Law and Practice Contributed by: Wacef Bentaibi, Benoit Pape, Chaimaâ Bouhami and Maxime Masurier, Gide Loyrette Nouel
3. Generation Facilities 3.1 Constructing and Operating Generation Facilities Principal Laws The construction and operation of generation facilities in Morocco are mainly governed by the following laws: • ONEE Dahir, which created ONE (now ONEE) and provides ONEE with an exclusive right to develop generation facilities above except for certain renewable energy and self-production facilities (Article 2). • Decree-Law No 2-94-503, which allows ONEE to enter into power purchase agreements with inde- pendent power producers, enabling private gen- eration within the regulated segment. • Law 13-09, which provides a specific legal frame- work for the development of renewable energy generation by private and public entities; establish- es authorisation and declaration regimes; defines grid access conditions; sets capacity hosting limits; and addresses storage, certificates of origin and commercialisation of renewable electricity (Articles 2–30). • Law 82-21, which organises self-production of electricity regardless of source, voltage or capacity; sets declaration and authorisation thresholds; and subjects grid-connected renewable self-production to the capacity hosting limit (Articles 1, 4–6). • Law 48-15, which establishes the regulatory frame- work for the electricity sector and creates ANRE. ANRE provides advisory opinions on authorisation requests and approves the capacity hosting of the system (Articles 3–4). • Law No 57-09, as amended by Laws No 37-16 and 38-16, which establishes Masen and defines its role in developing integrated renewable energy projects through competitive public-private part- nership (PPP) tenders. The above sector-specific framework applies with- out prejudice to the rules of ordinary law, in particu- lar those governing construction and environmental protection.
conditions and to the broader conduct of market par- ticipants. Principal Laws and Prohibited Practices Law 104-12 prohibits: (i) anti-competitive agreements (Article 6), including price-fixing, market allocation, restriction of output and bid rigging; and (ii) abuse of a dominant position (Article 7), including refusal to deal, tying, discriminatory conditions and excessive prices. ANRE may refer suspected restrictions to the Competition Council under Law 48-15. The Competition Council examined the sector in Opin- ion No A/1/24 of 28 March 2024 relating to the elec- tricity sector. Regulator, Investigation Powers and Jurisdiction The Competition Council is the principal enforcement authority. It may open investigations on its own initia- tive or upon referral, conduct investigations through its case officers ( rapporteurs ), compel production of documents, enter business premises and seize docu- ments with judicial authorisation, and hear any rel- evant person. ANRE exercises complementary sector-specific sur- veillance: it oversees non-discriminatory grid access and accounting separation, and it can conduct on- site audits and settle disputes between grid users and operators. Enforcement Procedures and Sanctions Following the investigation, the General Rapporteur ( Rapporteur Général ) notifies a statement of objec- tions. The Competition Council rules on an adversarial basis; it may order interim measures or accept com- mitments. Pecuniary sanctions may reach 10% of highest world- wide turnover, doubled for recidivism (Article 39). Leniency is available (Article 41). Criminal sanctions apply to individuals: imprisonment of two months to one year and/or a fine of MAD10,000 to MAD500,000 (Article 75). Obstruction is punishable by up to 1% of worldwide turnover (Article 73).
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