Can You Send or Sell Solar Electricity to Morocco’s Grid? Laws 82-21 and 13-09 Explained
Law 82-21 covers electricity produced primarily for the owner’s own use. Law 13-09 covers renewable production, including projects that can supply a separate customer. Neither law automatically gives a project permission to export electricity or a right to be paid.
Start with one question: who will use the electricity?
One law covers electricity made for the owner’s own use. The other covers a renewable producer supplying a separate customer.
Law 82-21: electricity produced for your own use
This is Morocco's self-production law. It applies when a person or organization makes electricity for its own consumption. Example: a shop owns rooftop panels and uses their electricity in that shop.
The law divides projects by connection and power. Off-grid projects are declared to the ministry responsible for energy. Smaller low-voltage projects are declared to the local electricity distributor. From a regulatory threshold through 5 megawatts, a connection agreement applies; from 5 megawatts, government authorization applies.
The smaller-project threshold and several filing details still depend on implementing rules. Confirm the effective procedure for the named project. See Articles 3–6 of Law 82-21.
Law 13-09: renewable production that can serve another customer
This law sets Morocco's rules for private companies that build and operate renewable plants. Example: a solar company owns a plant and contracts to supply a separate factory.
The producer files a prior declaration below 2 megawatts and obtains government authorization from 2 megawatts. It also needs the applicable network access and connection arrangements before supplying the customer.
The customer benefits from the supply contract but should still verify the producer's approvals and the written network arrangements. See Articles 3–5 and 21–26 of Law 13-09.
Same owner and electricity user: start with Law 82-21. Separate producer and customer: start with Law 13-09.
Each word describes a different piece of proof.
These terms should identify a real filing, signed decision or published rule.
Declaration
Connection agreement
Authorization
Implementing text
A solar surplus passes through four separate stages.
Producing surplus electricity does not establish permission to export it or a right to payment.
The meter boundary separates a surplus from an accepted export.
Solid lines show electricity used at the property. The olive surplus line stops at the metering boundary; the dashed boundary marks where grid export still needs written acceptance.
Law 82-21 allows up to 20% of annual production to be sold as surplus. This ceiling is not a project approval. ANRE states that the low-voltage purchase tariff still awaits the appropriate regulatory and technical framework. Read ANRE's current tariff notice.
Prepare the project, then ask for the proof that applies to it.
Low voltage commonly serves homes, shops and smaller businesses. Medium voltage commonly serves larger sites with their own electrical substation.
A low-voltage home or shop using its own rooftop solar
The owner is the self-producer under Law 82-21. Prepare the electricity bill, distributor name, proposed solar power, daytime-use evidence and intended export mode.
Before committing to equipment, ask the distributor which effective procedure applies and which receipt or agreement will prove acceptance. A quotation, inverter setting or informal answer is not that proof.
Build the committed financial case around electricity used on site. Keep paid low-voltage export at zero until written acceptance, approved metering, a purchaser and a valid tariff all exist for the project.
A factory or hotel using solar at its own medium-voltage site
The business is the self-producer under Law 82-21. Prepare the load profile, proposed power, production and consumption sites, connection point and surplus plan.
Ask the network operator and ministry responsible for energy which declaration, connection agreement or authorization applies. Retain that proof and the accepted network, metering and operating conditions.
Morocco has a published medium-voltage access framework and hosting-capacity information, but neither reserves capacity for one project. Count export revenue only after the quantity, purchaser, meter and tariff are accepted.
A renewable producer supplying a separate industrial customer
The renewable producer applies under Law 13-09. It identifies the plant, power, technology and site, then obtains the applicable declaration receipt or government authorization.
The producer also secures network access and connection. The customer should verify that evidence and review the supply contract, metering, settlement and delivery responsibilities.
Do not commit the supply or revenue case until capacity, network access and the customer agreement are confirmed for the named sites.
Keep one evidence pack from the project description to the accepted operating state.
The documents vary by route. The owner should still be able to see who applied, what was accepted and which conditions the installed project must respect.
- 01
A project note that identifies the route.
Name the owner, electricity user, site, proposed power, connection level, export mode and law being used.
- 02
The formal proof required before construction or operation.
Retain the applicable declaration receipt, connection agreement or government authorization. A proposal does not replace it.
- 03
The written network position.
Keep the accepted connection, capacity, protection, metering and export conditions. Published hosting capacity does not reserve the point.
- 04
The commercial terms, when electricity is sold.
Record the buyer, accepted quantity, price basis, metering and settlement. Exclude unsupported export revenue from the model.
- 05
The as-built record and change control.
Match the installed power, meter and operating mode to the accepted file. Confirm material changes before making them.
Skipping a required step can stop the project and create penalties.
Law 82-21 sets a 2,000–5,000 MAD fine for starting without a required declaration and a 100,000–1,000,000 MAD fine for starting without a required connection agreement or authorization. It also provides for notice, stopped operation and, in defined cases, stopped injection or disconnection. See Articles 25 and 28–32.
Law 13-09 sets a 50,000–100,000 MAD fine and court-ordered equipment confiscation for a missing required declaration. Operating without a required authorization can carry three months to one year in prison and a 100,000–1,000,000 MAD fine, or either penalty. See Articles 38–42.
These penalties apply to specific violations. They are not predictions for a generic solar project; individual facts and the applicable legal route determine the outcome.
What could change the low-voltage answer?
The answer changes when an effective low-voltage procedure defines the required filing and acceptance, and valid tariff and purchase terms support payment. The SGG legislative register may show drafts; a draft is not an effective rule.
Build the committed case around electricity the site can use.
For most low-voltage projects, build the financial case around on-site use. Treat export as a separate approval and exclude paid surplus from committed revenue. Recalculate when the required procedure, project acceptance, meter, tariff and purchase agreement are available.
This article explains published rules. It is neither a connection authorization nor project-specific legal advice.
