Abstract

This chapter investigates the impact of the pandemic in the Moroccan economy and consequently in the electricity demand. We first explore the short-run impact of the lockdown in the shape of demand load, and then we move to a more comprehensive study of the impact of the pandemic on the Moroccan economy, and on the way, this may influence electricity demand in the middle to long term. Our main findings are that lockdown sharply decreased electricity demand on average, having also an impact on the shape of the load curve by decreasing baseload more importantly than peak-load. In the case of Morocco, since it is a Muslim country, this effect is accentuated by the flattening impact of Ramadan on the load. In relation to the long-term impact of the pandemic on electricity demand, there is no catch-up, i.e., the Moroccan economy does not go back to the pre-pandemic. Consequently, the demand for electricity is lower and stays lower after the pandemic and up to 2030.