- US-led group plans to invest $4.5bn
- Project based in Laayoune province
- ORNX finalises deal with government
A US-led consortium has signed an agreement to invest $4.5 billion in a green ammonia project in Morocco, marking one of the North African country’s largest clean energy investments to date.
The project, based in the southern Laayoune province, has a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes of hydrogen and 560,000 tonnes of ammonia.
The ORNX consortium finalised the deal with the Moroccan government last week to secure land for the development of a low-cost ammonia production project, the US embassy in Rabat and Morocco’s media reported.
The ORNX consortium is made up of Ortus from the US, Acciona from Spain and Nordex from Germany, the report said.
The project comprises an energy facility that will be fully powered by renewable energy with a total of more than two gigawatts from wind and photovoltaic solar sources.
A battery energy storage system will support the project, with 900MW dedicated to electrolyser units and a seawater treatment desalination plant.
The consortium is also planning to undertake other projects in Boujdour and Dakhla in south Morocco, according to ORNX’s CEO Peter Gish.
Quoted by Morocco’s media outlets, Gish described the project as a new milestone in the consortium’s journey, showing its commitment to Morocco’s energy future.
In March last year, the Moroccan government announced that five national and international operators, including ORNX, would develop six green hydrogen projects in southern Morocco with an investment of $31 million.
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In a televised speech last year, King Mohammed VI urged the government to speed up the implementation of Morocco’s offer in the green hydrogen sector “to make sure the requirements of quality are observed,” and to leverage Morocco’s significant potential in this regard and meet the expectations of leading global investors in the promising field.
The new project is in line with Morocco’s national strategy to establish itself as a regional and global centre for the production and export of green hydrogen.
In 2024, Morocco allocated one million hectares of land to support the sector under the “Morocco Offer”, a framework designed to attract large-scale foreign investment in clean energy.
