Morocco-UK Xlinks interconnector moving forward: UK-based high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable manufacturer XLCC — the contracted supplier of the 3.8k km interconnectors that will link Morocco and the UK under the GBP 18 bn Xlinks project — has received local approval for its HVDC manufacturing plant in Scotland, Morocco World News reported on Saturday.

The project: UK-based renewables developer Xlinks is the project developer of the Morocco-UK interconnector and the renewables projects from which it will source power. The company will lay four 3.8k km high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cables to transport 3.6 GW of renewable energy — nearly 8% of the the UK’s current requirements — from a 10.5 GW solar and wind farm in Morocco’s Guelmim-Oued Noun region to Britain’s power grid in Devon. The Xlinks project boasts a total size of 1.5 mn sqm — 200k sqm of solar arrays alone. The renewable plants will be supported by a 5 GW battery storage facility. The project is expected to be fully operational by 2030.

Xlinks has been lining up capital and UAE’s Taqa is onboard: In April, Xlinks secured GBP 25 mn in funding from the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and GBP 5 mn from UK-based energy supplier and renewables investor Octopus Energy for the project. Earlier in November, German energy consultancy Conenergy invested an undisclosed sum in the project under a “financial and strategic partnership.”

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