The Moroccan government has seen nearly 40 green hydrogen proposed by the first wave of developers in less than six months since it launched the so-called “Moroccan Offer” for blocks of land and tax incentives, according to a summary of a recent committee meeting.
The government had in March announced that it would allocate a million hectares of land (10,000 square kilometres) for renewable H2 projects, with an initial 3,000sq km on offer, subdivided into lots of between 100 and 300sq km.
While the full assessment criteria for awarding land and its weighting has not been released, the government has indicated that in addition to the financial strength of developers or consortia, it will also consider the impact on Morocco’s industries, ie, the localisation of supply chains and domestic offtake.
Financial returns for the government via royalties, rent, profit sharing and direct capital investment will also be considered in the final selection of candidates.
The first preliminary contracts for land — which will reserve sites for six months while developers kick off initial technical, environmental and financial studies — are expected to be signed this quarter.
Once the six months are up, the government and developers will negotiate an “advanced study agreement”, which sets out conditions for the project, such as length of land rights and rent, while reserving the site for another 18 months as front-end engineering and design is completed.
If the developer takes a final investment decision (FID) for a project that complies with the terms set out in the advanced study agreement, then an “investment framework agreement”, ie, payments for land allocation, will be automatically signed.
However, if a developer takes FID outside the terms, negotiations will begin again for an investment framework agreement — putting the project at risk of losing the site entirely.
The Moroccan government has also suggested that successful developers will be exempt from import duties and value-added tax on goods purchased for their projects.
