Assessment of Geothermal Potential In Atlantic Margin (southern Provinces of Morocco)

Aware about the deficiency of primary energy resources and the economic growth it is experiencing, Morocco has accelerated its energy transition aiming to produce 52% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. In this perspective, ONHYM (National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines), s a state agency, is in charge of developing geothermal energy exploration in Morocco. In this framework, it has been conducting since 2012, various programs of evaluation and overall synthesis by compiling all existing geoscience data (Sadki, 2012; Berkat et al., 2017). This allowed defining two large areas with prospective high potential: North Eastern Morocco and South Atlantic margin of the country. This paper presents the main results of an evaluation of geothermal potential in the South Atlantic margin of the country where surface geothermal features have been reported since the first decade of last century. This part of the country is characterized by two aquifer systems of varying importance, the Paleogene aquifer in the south of the study area and the Lower Cretaceous aquifer which is the main deep aquifer, it’s also characterized by its proximity to the geothermal anomaly of the Canary Islands. Geothermal gradient and heat flow can exceeds 50°C/km and 100 mW/m2 respectively. As part of this project, ONHYM carried out a surface exploration program consisting of detailed geology, geochemistry survey over the superficial index and thermal loggings in shallow and deep boreholes. The results of this program allowed identifying and selecting five areas with geothermal resources potential. A road map is being prepared to develop this energy in the coming years for direct use or for electricity production using a binary system. This program will state clearly pilot geothermal projects either in direct use or power generation in accordance with the new mining law that integrated in 2015, geothermal exploration and exploitation licenses.