Harnessing the wind in Morocco
Holcim’s Tetouan plant is the first cement plant in the world to have its own wind farm.
About Tetouan
Opened in 2005, with two extensions in 2008, the plant’s total capacity is now 32 megawatts. The motivation to switch to wind power was driven by a desire to lower CO2 emissions and reduce energy costs, as wind power is less expensive than energy from the national provider.
Over the past few years, wind power has replaced an increasing share of the fossil fuel-based energy at all nine plants in Morocco. In 2018, the substitution rate reached 75 percent (8 percent of which was provided by Tetouan’s wind farm), reaching a record high of 97 percent in August.
Wind energy purchase agreements supply about 70 percent of our annual electrical energy needs and we plan to increase this to 90 percent by 2020.
Energy efficiency
Cement production is an energy-intensive process. Energy costs and security of supply are key business drivers. Improving our energy efficiency reduces the carbon intensity of our products and lowers our production costs.We have reduced our energy consumption per tonne of clinker to 3,518 megajoules in 2018 (1990: 4,532 megajoules), among the lowest rates in the sector. Since 1990, we have increased our cement production by around 79 percent, while our annual energy consumption has increased by just 18 percent
