France backs hydrogen research in Morocco: The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy andNew Energies (IRESEN), the Paris-Saclay Technology Transfer Acceleration Company (SATT Paris-Saclay), and the French Development Agency (AFD) signed an agreement to support applied research projects for decarbonized hydrogen with an EUR 800k grant, according to a statement released on Thursday. The funds will be provided by AFD and the French Treasury.

The details: Set to kick off in 4Q 2024, the three-year project call will be managed by IRESEN and provide financial and technological support as well as access to shared infrastructure, such as the Green H2A R&D platform that was set up in partnership with chemical manufacturer OCP and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. The partnership is expected to encourage new collaborations among research centers, universities, and industrial actors in efforts to improve decarbonized hydrogen technologies and transform them into marketable industrial products.

France is investing heavily in Moroccan renewables: France recently expressed interest in funding a 3 GW power cable linking the Moroccan city of Casablanca to the town of Dakhla in Western Sahara, and the nation is also willing to back Moroccan projects in solar, wind, nuclear energy, and green hydrogen. The AFD is also set to provide a EUR 350 mn loan to assist Morocco’s OCP in its decarbonization efforts, while Morocco’s Industry and Trade Minister Ryad Mezzour and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire have explored cooperation in sectors including electric battery manufacturing and green hydrogen.

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