156 3. EARLY STEPS TOWARDS RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
EXISTING CAPABILITIES
4. CONSIDERATIONS FOR CAPITALISING ON EARLY STEPS
Following investments in renewable energy, the potential of creating a new competitive indus-try in Morocco is significant. These early steps of linking energy and industrial policy have opened up opportunities for synergies between different initiatives for expanding the market for renewable energy and developing capabilities in the private sector. In effect, even if not labelled as such by the national authorities, green industrial policy has been enabled in Morocco. Incentives for market creation made the creation of a market for renew-able energy technologies possible and attracted much needed investment. Training programmes made it possible for skilled and unskilled workers to participate in the first projects. Education and research programmes contributed to increasing awareness of this new sector and of future pros-pects. Lastly, various support programmes for the private sector triggered interest in exploring investment opportunities in renewable energy.
To scale-up these initiatives and their outcomes, it is necessary to embed them in a systemic approach. A large market offers incentives for private investors to enter the market, as expe-rienced in the wind energy sector in Morocco.
Thus, eliminating regulatory barriers for low and medium-voltage projects is critical in this regard.
Opening up this market segment will diversify the technology focus beyond concentrated solar power.
That should bring small and medium enterprises into the supply chain for renewable energy tech-nologies by manufacturing parts and components and providing associated services, in turn contrib-uting to learning and improvement in competitive-ness. A larger market also opens up opportunities for a wider targeting of technologies with diverse degrees of local value added potential.
Moreover, targeted support measures for upgrading capabilities in the small and medium enterprise
sector can assist not only local companies but also encourage lead firms to create linkages with local companies and thus to localise knowledge. So far, support measures have not been well targeted to the specific needs of companies in this sector;
therefore they have not been very effective. As consortia of technology-intensive lead firms have developed the first large projects, critical steps could be made in developing a base of local suppliers of certain parts and components along the value chain. Gaining a better understand-ing of local manufacturunderstand-ing and service provision capabilities is essential. The earlier experience with attracting investments and developing a competitive automotive and aeronautics sector in Morocco–through comprehensive supplier devel-opment programmes and synergetic initiatives in training, education, and research–could offer rele-vant lessons to the development of a renewable energy sector. To this end, a more detailed under-standing of the factors that contributed to posi-tive outcomes in these other sectors is necessary, followed by a reflection on lessons that could be transferred to the renewable energy sector.
Ultimately, an integrated national strategy is crit-ical, as is a long-term vision for developing this sector that stresses learning, not only from earlier steps but also from Morocco’s experience with the development of other sectors. Its favourable location and stable political environment, as well as its consistent efforts to develop their renewa-ble energy potential, could help position Morocco as a regional player in this sector. The success of such an effort is conditional on correcting earlier shortcomings, especially with regards to enabling further structural reforms. Areas for attention include the labour market and business climate, increasing public dialogue, fostering business and civic engagement and strengthening alignment across administrative functions.
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