Morocco-UK Green Energy Cable Project Accelerates, Aims for 2027 Launch

"If the project is launched before the end of this year, the electricity will start flowing in 2027 and the project will be able to operate at its full potential in 2030," said Sir Dave Lewis, chairman of the clean energy company Xlinks, in the "Business podcast" of Ian King on Sky News. According to him, the Moroccan Sahara is "one of the best places in the world to generate green energy" as it enjoys a blazing sun but also a lot of wind in the late afternoon, which significantly increases the energy production period up to 18 hours a day.

He assured that this cable will provide energy at a more interesting price than what the UK will pay for its future Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant. "The energy that will come from Morocco as part of the Xlinks project will be at 48 pounds per megawatt-hour, compared to 92.5 pounds/MWH expected for the energy from Hinkley Point C," said Sir Dave Lewis, stating that three new factories will be built in the UK as part of this project, the financing of which amounts to around 16 billion pounds. Half of this financing will be used for the manufacture of the cable and the connections.