EU, North Africa green energy tie-up draws closer
An experimental project connecting renewable energy researchers in the EU with colleagues in Morocco and Tunisia could help pave the way for a market in renewable energy and energy efficiency that spans the Mediterranean.
Interview with Claude Ayache, senior advisor for European affairs at the EU’s public-private green energy partnership, InnoEnergy.
Why has InnoEnergy focused on a partnership with North Africa in the MAGHRENOV project?
"There have been two decades of effort to develop a European-Mediterranean innovation space in which people can collaborate and bring advances in research to market. But there are still many problems. MAGHRENOV is really a test bed, a way of experimenting with north-south innovation in order to prepare the way for an internal, Euro-Med market in renewable energy and energy efficiency."
Why do we need a market like this that connects countries across the Mediterranean?
"Collaboration with different neighbouring regions is a big EU priority, so it’s an important political goal. It’s in our interests to have thriving economies on our borders. With wealth development comes increased markets, economic prosperity and improved cross-border relationships."
Read the full interview by Aisling Irwin via Horizon Magazine web site.
[Photo by Antonio Cinotti | Flickr]
