"The Kingdom has two sources to supply the national market with natural gas," said Benali, in response to a central question in the House of Representatives on the national energy strategy.

"The first is related to domestic production while the second involved natural gas supplied by the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME), and which was used exclusively in the production of electricity in the power plant of Tahadart, near Tangier, and the power plant of Ain Beni Mathar in the Eastern province," she added.

"In recent days, the supply was able to meet the demand for energy, although these two stations were not in operation, through focusing on the established national capacity, in addition to the decrease in demand for electricity due to the pandemic," she stressed.

Regarding hydrocarbons, the minister confirmed that "the supply of butane gas to the national market, which is used for domestic and agricultural purposes, has nothing to do with the GME," noting that the needs of the national market are regularly supplied through imports by the various ports of the Kingdom.

In order to provide the optimal energy mix, based on reliable and competitive technological options, and to increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity system, with the flexibility to which Morocco is committed, Benali went on, several programs have been developed and implemented concerning the production, transmission and distribution of electricity with a generalization to the rural sector.

The minister added that her department is working on the completion of projects and programs under the multi-year plan of electrical equipment by 2030, which is based primarily on the development of resources and local energy.

For the first period (2021-2025), additional electrical needs will be developed relying mainly on wind and solar renewables, with the programming and development of additional capacity that exceeds 4 megawatts, or 90% of the additional capacity, and a single natural gas thermal plant.

Regarding the second period (2026-2030), Morocco intends to adopt a green plan based on 100% renewable resources, with the objective of achieving an additional capacity of about 5200 megawatts, as well as the programming of flexible projects for the production of electricity during this period, in order to cope with the fluctuating nature of renewable resources, including the pumping station and energy storage systems by battery.

Benali also stressed that this green plan will take into account, on the one hand, the challenges and constraints imposed by the energy context on the international level, and this by offering an integrated and diversified energy mix, in which clean energy occupies an important part, and on the other hand, the future needs of all sectors in terms of energy, including the industrial sector.

In addition, the minister noted that the Kingdom has succeeded in the effective and efficient implementation of its energy strategy to achieve a sustainable, competitive and secure energy.