Green energy security assessment in Morocco: green finance as a step toward sustainable energy transition

Morocco is an energy-deficient country depending on almost 94% of energy imports to fuel its growing economy. Due to its fast-growing population, Morocco's energy consumption is projected to increase significantly, adding more pressure on the energy system. On the other hand, the rising tension of scarcity of resources, energy price fluctuations, and environmental issues have all made energy security one of its top priorities. Therefore, Morocco launched the National Energy Strategy (NES) in 2009 to reach 42% renewable generation by 2020, which was renewed to up to 52% by 2050. This study analyzes Morocco's energy security under the 4-As framework from 2000 to 2016.The 4-As methodology aims to assess and graphically illustrate the changes in Morocco's energy security by mapping these changes into four key dimensions: the availability of energy resources, the applicability of technology, the acceptability by the environment and society, and the affordability of energy resources. The quantitative analysis shows that Morocco's energy security performance was at its optimum during the first period of study (2000-2004) but then regressed for the remainder of the study period, as energy imports and prices increased, in addition to the low performance in applicability characterized by low energy efficiency. To improve Morocco's energy security status and move toward a sustainable energy transition, this study suggests integrating a higher share of renewable energy into the energy mix and boosting efficient technologies through a large scale of green finance and green investment projects.