Morocco’s National Railways Office (ONCF) has announced that the country’s high-speed train, Al Boraq, will switch to renewable energy resources. The move forms part of the organization’s overall objective to transition to 100% clean energy sources, thus reducing carbon emissions across the transportation sector.
In line with the ONCF’s green transformation plan, which started on 1 January 2022, the Al Boraq has been supplementing 25% of its power from renewables, with plans to extend this to 50% by 2023 and eventually 100%. In the short term, the switch to renewables will enable the ONCF to reduce carbon emissions by 120,000 tons of CO² each year – the equivalent of planting four million trees.
The transition to renewables makes the Al Boraq train the first high-speed major locomotive to be powered by renewables. With the transportation sector representing one of the highest emitting sectors globally, this development will hopefully spark a continent-wide transition within the sector itself, with other countries taking the lead from Morocco in utilizing clean energy sources.
With the country’s comprehensive strategy to increase the share of renewable resources to upwards of 52% by 2030 underway, this development marks a significant step regarding the decarbonization and greening of the transportation sector.
