The developer of a £16 billion ($20.6 billion) project to export renewable power from Morocco has added an option that could transmit the electricity to Germany instead of the UK.
Xlinks plans to build a massive solar and wind farm in Morocco, equipped with batteries to provide Britain with enough electricity to power 7 million homes.
Now it has an similar German option, according to planning documents published on the website of Europe’s transmission system operators.
That possibility may put pressure on UK authorities to provide backing for the project that could be critical for attaining the nation’s net-zero goals. Xlinks could supply both countries with renewable power, just do a UK connection or connect solely to Germany, although the latter is only a remote possibility, according to Chief Executive Simon Morrish, who plans to provide more details in the coming weeks.
“We’re looking at options,” said Morrish. “Everything is a possibility.”
A spokesperson for Xlinks later added that the company is “100% focused on the UK market,” but also looking at other links with markets including Germany. Other potential links would be in addition to the UK route, the spokesperson said.
Consistent sunny and windy conditions in Morocco would complement the UK’s growing fleet of offshore wind farms. The power would be sent along 3,800-kilometer (2,361-mile) subsea cables that would run along the west coast of Iberia and France before crossing the Channel and coming ashore in Devon in southwest England.
While still in the planning stage, the project has drawn millions of pounds of investment from major companies, including France’s TotalEnergies, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. and Octopus Energy Group. Former Tesco boss Dave Lewis is the company’s executive chair.
It’s unclear if the UK will offer the kind of support that would be critical to realizing such an unconventional project, but Xlinks has previously said it’s in talks to secure government backing. The UK has classified the Xlinks cable as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
In the German version of the project, Xlinks plans to keep the generation aspect in Morocco the same, according to the document.
Its solar, wind and batteries would generate some 26 terawatt hours of power, sent along subsea cables. Those would connect to the German grid operated by Tennet Holding, according to the Entso-e document.
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