The geopolitics of renewable and electricity cooperation between Morocco and Spain

The materializ ation of the potential benefits derived from renewable electricity exchanges across the Mediterranean has been partly blocked due to energy security and geopolitical concerns. This profile explores the geopolitics of Moroccan –Spanish cooperation in electricity and renewable energies, identifying drivers and barriers for its development. It argues that narrow energy security considerations, namely an excessive focus on reducing energy dependence and ‘renewable mercantilism’, have acted as a barrier, while more comprehensive geopolitical approach could offer new strategic opportunities. It identifies two geopolitical positive externalities for both countries: the strategic benefits of belonging to a grid community and the soft power of projecting themselves as energy transition companions. Finally, it derives some policy implications for on-going and future initiatives promoting electricity interconnections and renewable exchanges across the Mediterranean, taking stock of the Desertec and the Mediterranean Solar Plan failed geopolitical narratives.