Morocco and Germany’s USD 30 bn power cable is stalled

Morocco-Germany power cable project on ice: The USD 30 bn Sila Atlantik project — envisioned as the world’s longest subsea power cable, running some 4,800 km to feed up to 15 GW of Moroccan solar and wind into Germany — has reportedly stalled over disputes on project structure and guarantees. It's a reminder that the renewables-export dream still trails the fossil-fuel reality moving barrels and megawatts today.

Wheels down

Delta Air Lines will launch direct flights to Saudi Arabia in October — the first US carrier to do so in 25 years. Flights start just ahead of the Kingdom’s flagship Future Investment Initiative. Sales are “softer than anticipated” thanks to the Iran conflict, but Delta president Peter Carter isn’t blinking. “We think this is going to be temporary,” he told Semafor.

Saudi airspace stayed largely open through the war while other regional hubs went dark for weeks, which Carter thinks gives Riyadh a bigger role in regional travel. By comparison, Virgin Atlantic has dropped London-Riyadh, and Air Canada, Air France, and British Airways have axed most Gulf services until at least October.

R\

The UAE is moving fast to bulk out its east coast Hormuz bypassing options, with DP World inking an in-principle agreement with the Fujairah Ports Authority to develop two new deepwater terminals in Fujairah under a 50-year concession, it said in a statement. Construction will be carried out in phases and is expected to take 24-30 months from the start of works.

What it adds: Al Rugaylat, a container and multi-purpose terminal, will handle up to 2.5 mn TEUs, 1.7 mn tons of general cargo, and 190k car-equivalent units a year; Dibba, a general cargo terminal, adds 3.6 mn tons a year. Together they lift DP World's UAE container handling capacity from 19.4 mn TEUs to nearly 22 mn TEUs — a roughly 13% jump. Both sites sit on the Gulf of Oman, outside the strait entirely, and connect into Jebel Ali and Jafza through DP World’s inland network.