The United Kingdom (UK) is set to import 8% of its electricity energy needs from Morocco, Morocco’s Trade and Industry Minister, Ryad Mezzour said. During a recent visit to London, Ryad Mezzour said that the under-construction submarine cable between the two countries is projected to transport enough electricity to power nearly seven million UK homes with cost-competitive green energy produced in Morocco’s solar and wind plants. The 3,800-kilometer submarine cable project is currently managed by British green energy company XLinks in collaboration with the Saudi energy conglomerate ACWA Power. The cable will be online by 2030, Mezzour said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat. The sea cable is projected to have the capacity to transfer 10.5 gigawatts (GW) of green electricity produced in Morocco’s Guelmim-Oud Nour region. The cable is scheduled to comprise two 1.8 GW, HVDC subsea cables and it is set to be the largest of its kind in the world.
Initial reports from XLinks indicate that the cable will follow a route through shallow water along the coast of Morocco crossing the territorial waters of Spain, Portugal, and France before reaching the UK. Under the terms of the initial agreement, XLinks commits to constructing a solar farm with a production capacity of 7 GW, as well as a wind farm with a 3.5 GW capacity equipped with a 20 GWh/5GW battery storage. XLinks estimates that the project will cost $21.9 billion and create 10,000 jobs in Morocco, including 2,000 permanent jobs. The first cable is scheduled to go online in early 2027, while the other three sub-cables are set to start operations in 2029.