By Jihane Rahhou
A British green energy company, Xlinks,will build the twin high-voltage subsea cables that will be transferring green electricity from Morocco to the United Kingdom in a new factory in Scotland.
Xlinks is set to build a factory in Hunterston, Scotland. The factory’s first output will be the Morocco-UK Power Projects, according to Electrek, an energy-focused news outlet.
The new factory is set to produce four 3,800 km subsea cables for the first phase of the Morocco-UK Power Project. Over the first phase stretching between 2025 and 2027, Xlinks will connect Moroccan solar energy with Alverdiscott in North Devon.
For the construction of the undersea cables, the British manufacturer will need an estimated 90,000 metric tons of steel. The company had signed a charter with the UK parliament to use British steel, the Electrek report says.
Xlinks new manufacturing venture will double the amount of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables currently produced worldwide, the report indicates.
Once operational, the sea cable will have the capacity to transfer 10.5 gigawatts (GW) of green energy from a wind and solar farm in Morocco’s Guelmim-Oud Nour region.
The cable will be composed of twin 1.8 GW, HVDC subsea cables and will be the longest of its kind in the world.
Xlinks is the project developer of the Morocco-UK Power Project that is set to cover 1,500 square kilometers of land in Morocco, to connect the Moroccan electricity farm exclusively to the UK.
The cables will follow a route through shallow water along the coast of Morocco to the UK, crossing the territorial waters of Spain, Portugal, and France.
Under the same contract, Xlinks will construct a solar farm with a 7 GW capacity, in addition to a wind farm with a 3.5 GW capacity and a 20 GWh/5GW battery storage.
The project’s overall budget will reach US$21.9 billion and is set to generate 10,000 jobs in Morocco, of which 2,000 will be permanent.
The first cable will become operational in early 2027, with the other three set to launch in 2029.
According to an agreement with British National Grid, two of the four cables will be connected to the UK through Alverdiscott in Devon.
Data from Xlinks indicate that the undersea cables will power seven million homes in the UK by 2030, supplying 8 per cent of England’s electricity needs.
Morocco’s potential in green energy production
Over the past decade, Morocco has quickly transformed into an international leader in terms of renewable energy.
The North African country ramped up efforts to develop some of the world’s largest green energy projects including the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant (CSP), at the Noor Complex in Ouarzazate.
In addition to heavily investing in green energy ventures, the county established a legal framework to accommodate the rising demand for green investments.
Morocco’s climate is a major asset to its green ambitions. The country’s solar and wind resources allow for year-round energy production.
In Morocco, even the shortest winter day comes with over 10 hours of sunlight, providing high energy input.
In addition, the input of solar panels in Morocco is as much as three times higher than the input from solar panels in the UK, and can produce 500 per cent more power from January to March compared to the UK, Xlinks says.
