After securing £30M funding boost, Xlinks project receives high praise

The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company Taqa and Octopus Energy Group invested in Morocco’s 3,800 km undersea connector to the UK, with a $37.5 million finance boost.

The Xlinks firm that is implementing the project profited from the funding and is moving forward with construction, according to the New Civil Engineer media outlet.

Four 3,800 km long high-voltage direct current cables will be built as part of the establishment of the undersea inter-connector, which will extend from the south coast of the UK, via France, Spain, and Portugal underwater, and then onshore to a Moroccan wind and solar energy plant.

The project is expected to supply 8% of the UK’s energy needs from the renewable plant in Morocco By 2030.

In addition, the project involves the development of a 10.5 GW solar and wind farm in the Guelmim region on Morocco’s Atlantic coast.

The collaboration of the three businesses is advancing “one of the most visionary energy projects in the world”, according to Greg Jackson, CEO of the Octopus Energy Group.

The project’s developer anticipates that the Morocco-UK power project will give the UK 3.6 GW of energy, enough to power more than 7M homes for an average of 20 hours per day.

Morocco is currently transitioning its energy sector, putting an emphasis on clean energy and renewable resources. The Moroccan government plans to increase the country’s use of clean resources to 52% by 2030, compared to 38% in 2022.

The Morocco-UK Power Project will speed up the UK’s switch to clean energy sources, boost energy security, and lower consumer costs, according to Simon Morrish, CEO of Xlinks.

In an article entitled “Plugging the UK into Moroccan renewables: massive undersea cable link wins funding” and published two days ago on its website, UK magazine “The Chemical Engineer” praised the strategic Moroccan-British partnership in the field of renewable energies.

The magazine hailed the “undersea cables” project as a distinguished model for commercial cooperation between the two countries, and listed out, in a lengthy analytical article, the merits of the prospective project.

Andy Levy, Head of Projects at the University of Cambridge in the UK, described the green project as “amazing,” stressing that the major engineering associated with the project is in its final stages. The expert said that “Xlinks will supervise the management of the project’s submarine cable ship, given its pioneering experience in manufacturing submarine cables in the world.”

Morrish said: “The company’s ambition is to provide British households with clean, safe and affordable energy,” noting that “the project has received total support from both Moroccan and British governments.”

He added that “The huge potential of the energy project between the United Kingdom and Morocco will contribute to speeding up the use of clean green energy in the European continent, and thus reducing consumption bills and increasing energy security.”