- Belgium and Morocco have collaborated to launch a project to produce and store thermal energy from renewable energy sources.
- Energy from the project could be used for industrial purposes, including in the cement and steel industries.
Belgium and Morocco have collaborated to launch a project to produce and store thermal energy from renewable energy sources within the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex. The project, SOLHEATAIR, is an integrated renewable solution for producing, storing, and valorising heat produced by renewable energy sources.” Energy from the project could be used for industrial purposes, including in the cement and steel industries. In addition, thermal energy from the project could also be converted into electricity to reduce CO2 emissions.
The project’s launch took place on the sidelines of the visit of the Belgian Minister and President of Wallonia, Elio Di Rupo, to Morocco on Thursday. The deputy director general of Morocco’s renewable energy agency Masen, Fatima Hamdouch, was also present at the event in Rabat.
The Wallon government funds the project as part of the go “MecaTech competitiveness cluster,” a state organisation that supports the technological development of innovative projects that serve economic development. SOLHEATAIR was first conceived through a collaboration between energy companies John Cockerill Renewables, OCP-owned Prayon, and Masen, among other partners. The two countries hope to pave the way for a “holistic ecosystem of SMEs and research centres in Wallonia and Morocco through the project.