Four years. That is how long it took to turn an EIB offshore wind grant for Morocco into a consultant contract.
In September 2022 the EIB and Masen, Morocco’s sustainable energy agency, signed a cooperation agreement with a EUR 2 million grant for an offshore wind feasibility study off Essaouira. MEED reported on 3 September that the EIB has now awarded a EUR 1.99 million contract for the feasibility and environmental studies on a planned 1 GW project. Eleven firms bid. Ten were registered in the European Economic Area and one outside it.
Now read the contract terms. It runs for a maximum of 43 months including possible extensions, and construction is targeted to start in 2029. Count 43 months from an award reported in early September 2026 and the window closes in spring 2030. The source does not state the contract start date, so I read this as an open question.
My prediction: the 2029 date moves. The studies can finish early, but I would not plan a supply chain around that. My view is that a 1 GW offshore project that rushes its environmental assessment pays for it later.
It took four years to buy the question.
Which comes first off Essaouira: the study results or the construction date?
