Morocco will produce 42 percent of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2020, head of the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) said on Monday.

Mustapha Bakkoury made the statement to the press following a working session on the energy sector chaired by King Mohammed VI.

He added that the new laws on management of renewable energy and energy efficiency will help further increase the figure to 52 percent by 2030.

Morocco launched Noor 1, the first phase of what will be the world's largest solar power production facility last February. This mega project is expected to generate 580 megawatts by 2020, and provide electricity to over a million homes.

The country earned the classification of the world's greenest countries according to a study released as part of 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21), and its city of Marrakesh is due to host the COP 22 in November.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2016)