Emirati Taqa firm and British Octopus energy group will invest respectively £ 25 million and £ 5 million the world’s longest undersea cable expected to supply UK with electricity produced from renewable energy in Morocco
“Thanks to this funding, Xlinks will undertake the development of plans to lay the world’s longest high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cables between the UK and Morocco, passing Portugal, Spain and France,” Taqa said on Wednesday.
With their investment, Taqa and Octopus support Xlinks’ plans to lay the world’s longest high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cables between the UK and Morocco, passing Portugal, Spain and France as part of the Morocco – UK Power Project.
It is one of a number of first-of-a-kind long-distance renewable energy generation and cross-border export projects being planned globally, addressing the growing demand for firm power capacity.
The Xlinks project seeks to supply the UK with 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy-sourced electricity amounting to nearly 8 per cent of the nation’s current requirements and enough to power seven million British homes by the end of the decade.
The electricity will be generated in the Guelmim Oued Noun region of Morocco by a 10.5GW facility of solar and wind farms, supported by 20GWh/5GW of battery storage.
The facility will be connected to the UK power grid in Devon, South West England, via four 3,800km subsea HVDC cables, which will be manufactured in the UK.
This project will rely on the Moroccan renewable energy expertise whilst supporting its leading role globally in the fight against climate change and providing further value to its natural resources and reinforcing its renewable energy export strategy.
This clean energy project is expected to create around 10,000 jobs in Morocco during construction and lead to significant foreign direct investments in the North African country.