Rabat – Museums in Morocco are going green. Morocco’s National Museum Foundation (FNM) signed two agreements on Monday to install solar panels at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI) in Rabat.
FNM’s agreements with the Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies Research (IRESEN) create a framework for cooperation between the two institutions and power MMVI with solar energy.
FNM President Mehdi Qotbi penned the documents with Badr Ikken, the director-general of IRESEN, and Zakaria Naimi, the director of Morocco’s Green Energy Park (GEP).
Qotbi hopes to generalize the installation of solar panels to all museums in Morocco, according to state media reports.
MMVI will be the first museum on the African continent to acquire solar energy, he added, dubbing the initiative a “gesture of respect for the environment.”
Culture, Qtobi said, provides light in difficult times and helps preserve the planet. He highlighted the “green path of culture” and the “contribution of culture to save the planet.”
As part of FNM’s efforts to revitalize culture and restore “morale” in Morocco, Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is set to open in November an exhibition of notable Moroccan artist Fouad Bellamine. The painter, born in Fez in 1950, draws inspiration from scenes of the medina (old city).
FNM has also planned two artistic activities for October 13. The first is an exhibition at the National Museum of Ceramics in Safi. The second is the inauguration of a museum dedicated to music in Meknes.
Read also: Morocco’s Koutoubia, As-Sounna Among World’s Greenest Mosques
Ikken also welcomed the two agreements, emphasizing that the primary objective is to assess MMVI’s experience with solar energy and develop innovative energy solutions for the benefit of all museums in Morocco.
The agreement will come to life in the coming months. The first step is to install a 100kW solar panel system that will supply the museum with clean energy during the day. The second stage will allow the museum to store and optimize its solar energy.
The integration of solar energy solutions at Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art is the first at the continental level, Ikken stressed. With the installation of solar panels, Morocco’s MMVI will become “an even more unique museum,” he said.
Developing renewable energy solutions is a priority of Morocco as it works to reduce its energy imports. The North African country aims to source 45% of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2020 and by 2030, 52%.
Morocco is home to the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world, the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex, and has significantly expanded its green energy production in recent years.
With wind, hydraulic, and solar power, Morocco is a leader in renewable energy not only in Africa and the Middle East, but across the globe.
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