- State-owned OCP is one of the biggest importers of ammonia, spending $2 billion on raw materials last year as the war in Ukraine pushed up global prices.
- It also lacks oil or gas and has a problematic relationship with neighbouring hydrocarbons producer Algeria.
Morocco’s OCP plans to invest $7 billion in an ammonia plant using green hydrogen produced from renewable fuel, it told Reuters, as one of the world’s biggest phosphates and fertiliser companies seeks to increase output and meet low carbon goals. State-owned OCP is one of the biggest importers of ammonia, spending $2 billion on raw materials last year as the war in Ukraine pushed up global prices.
The war’s impact on supplies increased OCP’s global significance and renewables. Push is integral to a Moroccan industrial strategy to reduce energy imports. To offset supply problems, OCP has struck a deal to buy ammonia from North America this year, it said.
Longer term, it plans to reinforce its domestic supply chain by building a Tarfaya plant in southern Morocco. By 2026, the plant would produce 200,000 tonnes of ammonia a year, increasing to 1 million tonnes by 2027 and 3 million tonnes by 2032, it said in an emailed answer to Reuters questions. Its plan to use hydrogen produced from solar-and-wind-powered electrolysis as a raw material to make ammonia is part of a $13 billion strategy the company announced in December to shift to renewable energy.
Morocco has invested heavily in renewables, partly because it has many empty lands, sun and wind and a long coastline. It also lacks oil or gas and has a problematic relationship with neighbouring hydrocarbons producer Algeria. The government wants to raise renewable energy to 52% of installed power capacity from 38% by 2030. It is also pushing for an increase in desalination to help cities and agriculture cope with the impact of years of drought.