Morocco races to 4.4 GW renewable build-out as Chinese battery billions arrive

Morocco races to 4.4 GW renewable build-out as Chinese battery billions arrive Chinese EV investment and European power demand pull Morocco toward a 6 GW project pipeline through 2030. Morocco has authorised 66 renewable energy projects totalling 6 GW since 2021, the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) said, while planners now target another 4.4 GW by 2030.⁷ That matters because money is already arriving from China. Firms from the country have struck deals to invest at least $10bn in electric vehicles and batteries in Morocco, representing roughly 5% of all Belt and Road Initiative investments worldwide over the past two years.³ Gotion, a battery-maker holding nearly 4% of the global market, has poured over $6bn into a single factory in Kenitra.³ The factory needs power — and Morocco is trying to supply it from wind, solar and hydro. By the end of 2025, the country had an estimated 5.5 GW of operational renewable capacity, or 45.4% of total installed capacity. That includes 2.4 GW of wind, 2.1 GW of hydropower and just 961 MW of solar.⁷ The solar number is about to grow fast. MASEN and state utility ONEE are jointly planning 2.5 GW of new solar installations and 1.9 GW of new wind capacity by 2030.⁷ Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has already been awarded the Noor Midelt II and Noor Midelt III projects, each 400 MW with 602 MWh of battery storage attached.⁷ In May, Chinese developer Jinko Solar announced a 90 MW plant in Morocco.⁷ That is small compared with the Midelt awards, but it signals a pattern: Chinese capital is chasing Moroccan electrons. The geopolitical logic is straightforward. Morocco sits 300 km from Europe, which is already the country’s biggest trading partner.³ That proximity gives Rabat a potential export route for green hydrogen, sustainable shipping fuel and — if grid connections develop — power itself. But Europe’s own renewable build-out is producing its own contradictions. More than 70 GW of renewables were added across Europe in 2025, led by Germany, Spain and France, according to a study by Montel’s EnAppSys, EQ and Energy Brainpool analysts. Yet analysts said rising renewable output had not consistently translated into lower emissions, with only Finland successfully combining green build-out with reductions.² Structural challenges in the energy transition persist, the study found.² That means Europe needs more than just wind and solar farms — it needs electrification of demand. France’s EDF made that case bluntly. Electrification was “imperative” for France amid the latest energy shock caused by the Iran war, the state-run utility said, after announcing a plan to increase power demand by 5.5 TWh, or 1% per annum.¹ New heat pumps and electric trucks could add 0.5 TWh a year, while EDF would offer “turnkey sites” with grid connections to new industrial users.¹ Seventy companies and industry groups have called on the European Commission to target 50% electrification of final EU energy consumption by 2040, warning the bloc risks falling behind China and the US on clean technology.⁶ China is not waiting. It has already installed 887 GW of solar capacity, close to double Europe and America combined.⁴ The 22m tonnes of steel used to build new Chinese wind turbines last year alone underscores the scale.⁴ Yet China’s power paradox remains: record renewables and continued coal expansion, driven by a “build before breaking” approach, as Ember senior analyst Muyi Yang put it.⁵ For Morocco, the question is whether its build-out can stay ahead of demand from Chinese factories and European hydrogen plans. The 6 GW of authorised projects since 2021 are a start, but the clock is running. Gotion’s Kenitra factory alone is a $6bn bet that Moroccan electrons will be cheap, green and available on time.