chargement...
Morocco has launched a pilot project near Tangier using floating solar panels to both reduce water evaporation and produce renewable energy.
Since late 2024, more than 400 floating platforms carrying several thousand panels have been installed at the Oued Rmel dam near Tangier, reveals AFP in a recent article on the project. Authorities plan to scale up to 22,000 panels covering 10 hectares, generating around 13 megawatts, enough to power the Tanger Med port complex.
Water ministry official Yassine Wahbi said the reservoir loses around 3,000 cubic metres of water a day to evaporation, a figure that doubles in summer. The floating panels could cut that loss by about 30 percent.
Two additional projects are under study in Oued El Makhazine and Lalla Takerkoust dams near Marrakech. Similar technology is being tested in France, Indonesia, and Thailand, while China already operates some of the world’s largest floating solar farms.
Climate science professor Mohammed-Said Karrouk hailed Morocco’s project as «pioneering», though he noted that the irregular surface of reservoirs makes full coverage unfeasible. Alongside the panels, authorities plan to plant trees along reservoir banks to reduce evaporation caused by wind.
The initiative comes as Morocco seeks to diversify its response to water scarcity, with desalination capacity set to rise from 320 million cubic metres annually to 1.7 billion by 2030.
