Energy | CYDE Foundation

Where Morocco and Africa stand

Morocco imports most of the energy it uses, which leaves households and businesses exposed to price swings abroad. The country also has strong sun and wind, and it has built large renewable projects, including the Noor solar complex near Ouarzazate. Law 13 to 09 opened the electricity market to private renewable producers, and the national strategy sets targets for the share of renewables in the electricity mix by 2030. Our work on the Morocco energy transition looks at efficiency, solar power and fair access to energy.

Many other African countries start from a different problem. Millions of people still have no reliable electricity, so energy policy there is first about access and price, and only then about emissions. The two goals can be pursued together, but the priorities change from one country to the next, and advice written for one context rarely fits another without work.

What the energy pillar covers

Energy efficiency comes first

The cheapest kilowatt hour is the one nobody has to produce. Lighting, cooling, heating, motors and pumps use a large share of the energy in most buildings and small factories, and much of it is wasted. An energy audit shows where. Insulation, efficient lighting, better controls and regular maintenance often repay their cost through lower bills, sometimes within a few years.

If so many measures pay for themselves, why are they not more common? The usual answers are the up front cost, a lack of reliable information, and split incentives: a landlord pays for the upgrade while the tenant enjoys the lower bill. We want to write short, plain language guides that help small businesses, associations and households decide what to do first, and to publish analysis of the barriers that hold efficiency back.

Solar power and how to pay for it

Solar panels have become much cheaper over the past decade. For a small business or a household, the obstacle is now usually the payment on day one. Leasing, loans, pay as you go schemes, shared ownership and cooperatives each spread the cost differently, and each carries different risks for the user.

Part of our early work looks at financing models for solar. We want to turn that work into public analysis of which models suit small users in Morocco, what they cost over ten years, and what protections users need.

Access and affordability

A clean energy transition that raises prices for poor households will not last politically. Affordability therefore belongs inside every energy question we study. We will look at tariffs, connection costs, the cost of efficient appliances and the role of local authorities, and we will ask who pays for the transition and who benefits.

Policy and regulation

Rules decide whether a good project gets built. Permits, grid access, tariffs and standards can speed a project up or stall it for years. We plan to read the rules in plain language, compare them with practice in other countries, and give decision makers specific recommendations instead of general calls for reform.

Questions we are working on

Which financing models make solar and efficiency investments reachable for small businesses and households?. What skills do clean energy jobs require, and how can young people reach them?.

Which permitting and grid rules slow down local renewable projects, and what would fix them?. How can digital tools such as smart meters and monitoring apps help users cut their consumption?.

What does an energy transition look like for a country that still has to connect part of its population?.

How the energy pillar connects to our other work

Energy sits close to everything else we do. Cutting energy use lowers emissions, which is the subject of our climate pillar. Digital tools make energy use visible, which is the subject of our digital pillar. Young people will fill most of the jobs the transition creates, so the youth pillar and the youth programme matter here too. Our method and our first publication plans are on the Research & Publications page.

A simple efficiency checklist for a small business

You do not need an engineer to find the first savings. This sequence works for a shop, a workshop, a clinic or a small office, and it costs little or nothing until the last step.

1. Read your electricity bills for the past twelve months and note the months where consumption jumps. A jump usually points to cooling, heating or a seasonal activity.
2. Walk through the premises after closing time and write down everything that is still running. Equipment left on overnight is the most common source of avoidable use.
3. Check lighting. Replace old bulbs with efficient LED lamps where you can, and add switches or sensors in rooms that are often empty.
4. Look at cooling and heating. Clean filters, seal gaps around doors and windows, and keep the thermostat at a sensible setting.
5. Ask who is responsible for maintenance. Dirty coils, leaking ducts and worn motors waste energy quietly.
6. Only then think about investment: better insulation, more efficient equipment, or solar panels. By this point you will know what you actually use.

A professional energy audit goes further, with measurements and a ranked list of actions. It is worth the cost for larger consumers. For smaller users, the checklist above often finds the cheapest savings first.

Terms we use

Energy writing is full of units and acronyms, and they get in the way of good decisions. These are the terms you will meet on this site.

A kilowatt hour (kWh) is the unit on your electricity bill. A 1,000 watt heater running for one hour uses one kilowatt hour. A kilowatt (kW) measures power, the rate at which energy is used or produced at a given moment.

Peak load is the highest demand on the electricity system, usually on a hot evening or a cold morning. Grids must be built to cope with it. An energy audit is a structured review of where a building or a process uses energy and how to reduce it.

A power purchase agreement is a long term contract to buy electricity at an agreed price, often used for solar projects. A mini grid is a small local electricity network, sometimes connected to the main grid and sometimes standing alone.

Common questions about energy and the transition

Does solar power only make sense in sunny regions? Sun helps, but costs and prices matter as much. A solar installation pays off when it replaces electricity that costs more than the panels do over their lifetime.

Is efficiency only for rich countries? No. Efficient lighting, appliances and buildings matter most where household budgets are tight, because they cut running costs for good.

Will the transition raise energy bills? It can, if costs are passed on without protection for poorer users. Affordability is part of every analysis we plan, because a transition that people cannot afford will not last.

Common questions about the Morocco energy transition