Smart grids in Morocco: Dream or reality?

Like any other industry sector in Morocco, the electric power industry is facing challenges involved with the increasing demand for interconnected system operations and control under the restructured electrical industry due to deregulation of the electrical market and the trend of the Smart Grid (The Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment for Morocco has launched in 2011 a consultation for developing a national regulation scheme for the electricity sector and the establishment of the authority of regulation to the end of 2013.). Morocco has embarked in the sustainable development revolution as the country is engaged in a tremendous economic and social development, the new Moroccan energy strategy adopted in March 2009, and which essential two objectives are to provide sufficient and reliable energy to the economy and the population as well as to prevent any harmful effect on the environment stemming from energy supply and uses. Smart Grid is a continuum from systems of today towards the visions of the next generation. In brief, a smart grid is the use of sensors, communications, computational ability and control in some form to enhance the overall functionality of the electric power delivery system. In this paper, smart grids and their important components in the distribution system are discussed. The basic aim of this paper is to study the Moroccan distribution system in the light of this new idea. In this paper, Morocco´s national power utility initiatives to make existing power grids smart by considering SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System) and Distribution Management System (DMS) at distribution system are discussed.