Morocco-UK Undersea Cable Project Delayed Amid British Political Turmoil

The project to build a 3,800 kilometer submarine cable connecting Morocco to the United Kingdom has been delayed until at least the end of 2023 due to political instability in London, reports The Observer. According to Sir Dave Lewis, executive chairman of the project, the recent political turmoil in Britain - which saw three prime ministers come to power in less than six months - has slowed down the project.

"We spent a lot of time with the then business secretary (Kwasi Kwarteng) who said: ’We love it, but it has to go through the Treasury.’ There was an examination with the Treasury, the Cabinet Office and the business department, which was very positive. [...] Then we went back to them to start the details and the political world exploded and everything stopped. And everyone changed, so it’s a bit like starting over," he explained.

With a total cost of £16 billion ($21.9 billion), the project to build the 3,800 km submarine power cable will connect Morocco and the United Kingdom. Xlinks will build a 10.5 GW power plant (7 GW for solar, and 3.5 GW for wind) in Morocco. The latter will be able to supply 8% of the UK’s electricity needs and should ultimately impact 7 million British families.