Dakhla-Casablanca electric highway: studies for the Tan-Tan/Marrakech section initiated

Something new in the giant electric highway project between the south and the center of the Kingdom. The National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) has just launched the call for tenders for the realization of topographic studies for the definition of a 100 m corridor or two 40 m corridors each in case of terrain constraints, for the future very high voltage electrical connection (3 gigawatts) Oued Lakraâ-Marrakech, with a length of approximately 1,100 km, and the Oued Lakraâ terminal station. The study will be carried out in two lots. The first will focus on the Oued Lakraâ/Tan-Tan section with a length of approximately 600 km and the Oued Lakraâ terminal station, while the second lot will concern the Tan-Tan/Marrakech section over a length of nearly 500 km.



According to the technical specifications of the ONEE, the route study will include the reconnaissance of the route carried out on the ground in the presence of an ONEE representative and the search for the optimal route of the future electrical connection based on the indications of the preliminary project established by the ONEE. It will also involve defining the substations from which the lines will originate. The route to be chosen must take into account several elements, in particular the crossings of existing structures, the proximity to agglomerations (the route must respect regulatory distances), forest crossings since the route must avoid crossing forests as much as possible and minimize the number of trees to be cut down, specific crossing points, and proximity to swamps and specific crops. As a reminder, this future infrastructure should allow for the evacuation of renewable energies from the South to the Center and further secure the supply of electrical energy to the provinces of the region.

The ONEE had opted for a progressive approach for the realization of this very high voltage electrical connection. Indeed, a first phase of the project, with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts (MW), should be operational in 2026, while the second, also of 1,500 MW, will enter service in 2028. In the 2025 Budget Framework Note, unveiled last August, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, emphasized the strategic importance of this project and announced the acceleration of its realization. In fact, the Note indicated, the operationalization of the various seawater desalination stations programmed will require electricity from renewable sources. The electrical connection project between the south and the center of the country will therefore make it possible to supply these future desalination stations from the solar and wind platforms of the south of the Kingdom.