ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Moroccan perspectives on building transnational clean energy grids. It considers the challenges associated with North-South electricity integration projects that cross different political systems and deep energy and wealth disparities by examining energy integration between Morocco and the EU. Electricity integration is not an automatic win-win, as advocates suggest. Rather, a win-win at the nation-state scale could be achieved only by offering value-added for North African national innovation systems, rather than focusing only on the often-discussed, mutual priority of security of energy supply. Claims of win-win outcomes that focus narrowly on security of supply leave out the broader policy goals in the South for renewable energy transitions to achieve sociopolitical benefit and sustainable development. Different perspectives on the role for state versus market between North and South, and a lack of procedural justice in the development of the vision, suggest that deep electricity integration in the Mediterranean region would be difficult to achieve. These findings are applicable to other electricity integration projects that are in the planning phases worldwide, such as the CASA-1000 project to export electricity from Central Asia to Afghanistan, US-Mexico electricity integration, African regional power pools, and the vision to develop a global grid.
