El Kharraz (Rcreee): “Israel’s war is a shadow on EU-North Africa cooperation”

Hammamet – “I hope that European countries, in particular, will put more pressure on Israel to stop this because this is counterproductive and, apart from the humanitarian crisis, we need to stop it because it will affect the stability of cooperation.” Jauad El Kharraz, executive director of the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE), said this during the ongoing MeetMed Week in Hammamet, Tunisia, organized by Medener (which has Enea’s Roberta Boniotti as secretary general), ANME (the Tunisian National Agency for Energy Management) and in partnership with APRUE (the Algerian National Agency for the Promotion and Rationalization of Energy Use).

“In June, there will be a conference between the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) area and Europe on the future of energy; if the international situation remains as it is, it could affect the event’s success. So we need an event like MeetMed Week to stimulate dialogue between European and Southern Mediterranean countries to understand the future of energy in terms of interconnections, production and export of green hydrogen and derivatives, energy security, and cost of goods,” El Kharraz continued. “I hope we can stop any war and conflict to make cooperation smoother and more productive. Also, for investors, as I said, it is not the best climate to go to the region because, for them, even though the conflict is going on in Gaza, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon are all also risk areas. We hope the situation will be resolved very soon,” he concludes.

“There has been an agreement between Egypt and Russia to develop a nuclear project. I think Algeria and Morocco are also interested, although it is probably not an immediate project. There is a debate about whether focusing on nuclear power for decarbonization” in the Middle East and North Africa is worthwhile. “I mean, in terms of models in France, for example, there are many, many projects, and they are really helping to secure electricity, but in North Africa, of course, there are also concerns about the risk, how we can manage it as well as the investment,” El Kharraz continued. “So I think Egypt is the closest to start the project with Russia and move it forward; Algeria and Morocco are probably not immediate,” El Kharraz continued. “I think nuclear is obviously an option, but the debate is controversial; some people think it would contribute to the energy transition to a net zero goal. Others argue that it is a risky technology and that we don’t necessarily have the skills and knowledge to run nuclear power plants,” he concludes.

“Our main mission is to support North African and Mediterranean states to accelerate the energy transition by providing technical assistance to develop the right policies and strategies for renewable energy and energy efficiency to promote private sector investment.” Over the past decade, “we have made a lot of efforts in North Africa and the MENA region on renewables,” and “we have invested more than $18 billion in renewable energy, and a lot will be invested in the coming years given the goal of tripling renewables by 2030.” If you look at Morocco “they are targeting 52 per cent renewables in the energy mix by 2030,” in Egypt “the target was 42 per cent by 2035, but now they are upgrading it to probably 60 per cent by 2030,” in Algeria “more or less 30 per cent, in Tunisia the same.” There are “ambitious targets in terms of increasing the contribution of renewables in the energy mix,” as well as “reforms and a political will.”