Essaouira, Morocco, where the wind never stops blowing (Louis Hansel/Unsplash)

Morocco is looking for a consultant to do a feasibility study on an offshore wind project that could be Africa’s first.

The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have put out a tender for technical assistance for the study.

The favoured site is in the Atlantic Ocean off Essaouira, a resort popular with windsurfers owing to the constant flow of air from the Atlantic into the Saharan low pressure area.

The tender says the area’s strong winds and shallow water gives it “high potential” for wind power.

Masen wants to install at least 6GW of wind generating capacity by 2030 as part of its plan to generate 52% of the country’s power from renewable sources by then.

The tender follows an announcement in September 2022 that the EIB had authorised a €2m grant to Masen to carry out a feasibility study prior to the construction of a small pilot project.

Lionel Rapaille, the EIB’s operations director for Morocco, commented at the time: “Our technical assistance operation will contribute to Morocco’s ambitious climate goals and to the development of a new cutting-edge sector across the continent.”

So far, no African country has developed an offshore wind project, although Egypt, Tanzania and Kenya have discussed the possibility.