In recent years, energy debates are increasingly focused on the transition of more ecological energy sources, therefore, Morocco is projecting to invest in its first Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) importing and storage capacity by 2030. This article comes to establish a pre-feasibility study for the future importation terminal and the objective is to develop a scientific approach to investigate the financial viability of such a project. The main challenge poses on the data estimation methodology and the relevance of the assumptions. Besides, the level of uncertainty depends on the stability of the LNG international market. The profitability of an investment is generally the most important criterion for the decision-making. Even if the combined ecological and industrial benefits of natural gas can sometimes provide enough motivation to invest, a long-term profitability study must be systematically pursued to evaluate the economic impact of such an investment decision. After highlighting the multiple benefits of natural gas, the first step is setting up the financial model to be adopted, which is in this case the net present value (NPV) and the Discounted Payback. Therefore, operating and financial assumptions are made based on the benchmark with other similar projects. The prefeasibility study will help to measure the LNG terminal capacity to generate revenue.

The aim of this article is to study the context and the challenges of the North African region in its quest towards energy transition. This work performs firstly a benchmark between the countries namely Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, in terms of fossil resources and renewable potential based on official data and statistics. The study then focuses on Morocco, who is developing a new energy transition model axed on renewable electricity generation. In order to highlight the importance of legislation and economic evolution, the study compares the high with medium voltage renewable electricity market. In fact, a framework law has been established allowing private investors to benefit from the national electricity grid to inject and sell high voltage renewable electricity. Not being the case for medium voltage, the electricity transition for this market is depending on its own business model and economic profitability, therefore, a financial profitability study is further conducted to evaluate medium voltage photovoltaic competitiveness. The study concludes with the profitability impact assessment if 50% of the investment amount is subsidized by state or any other organization. The results of this study are discussed considering the current legislative context, it demonstrates the importance of subsidies and state legislation to accelerate the energy transition towards renewable energy development.

Morocco, as many other countries in North Africa, is becoming vulnerable to climate change consequences. Its sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions are relatively high due to the electricity production, this sector is still heavily relying on coal. Morocco is also an emerging country, aiming to raise its economic development indicators and pursue a sustainable energy approach, facing additional challenges with industrial development and many coal infrastructures already in place. For the country, renewable energy is considered the most efficient pathway to decarbonize the electricity sector and reduce CO 2 emissions. The main goal is to meet the growing need for electricity while preserving the environment. This study investigates the electricity sector in Morocco and its production sources, it highlights the limitations of the current model and gives an opportunity analysis to meet the carbon neutrality target. This study also provides some development axes and recommendations to accelerate and support the new energy vision.

In order to achieve sustainable supply combustible development, Morocco is projecting to invest in its first natural gas importing and storage capacity by 2030. This future project should be designed for electric power plants and other sectors using energy. It is not worthy that up today most of the existing power plants in Morocco are depending on coal in their electricity production, this is in contrast with the recent government environmental commitments. Therefore, the aim of this article is to develop a research analysis related to the natural gas future project by introducing the main key aspects of choosing a site location and proposing an optimum routing for pipelines based on mathematic algorithms. It is proved that the port of Jorf Lasfar is a suitable importing terminal choice for Morocco. Afterwards, a pipeline routing will be proposed given the natural gas potential consumers. Thereby, the optimum pipeline routing starting from the importing terminal and linking the furthest consuming point is estimated at 490 Km.