The Morocco – UK Power Project, Xlinks’ most publicised venture, is designed to deliver 8% of Great Britain’s current electricity needs (3.6GW of clean, reliable power), which is enough for seven million homes.
It would see the construction of a large generation facility in Morocco’s Province of Tan-Tan. This would connect directly into the UK grid via 4,000km of subsea cabling.
By displacing expensive, volatile imported gas, it would stabilise and bring down wholesale prices and reduce the UK’s sector CO2 emissions in its first year of operation.
Crucially, the Project looks to firm up the UK’s supply through diversification, complementing ‘homegrown’ resources that face problems with intermittency – or Dunkelflaute – which occurs when the sun does not shine and the wind is low.
This is necessary because the sun and wind is intermittent, with long periods – sometimes weeks at a time – when they generate almost no electricity.
Morocco’s weather is not correlated to that of the UK’s – or most of Europe – which is why the nation wishes to become a global green hub and export clean electricity.
The Project would also bring billions in socio-economic value to both the UK and Morocco.
It aligns with Morocco’s global green hub strategy, which looks to export clean power to Europe and beyond.
The Project would bring substantial industrial development via local sourcing for the generation site, as well as thousands of jobs during construction and operation.
Further financial benefits would come in the form of export fees and the site lease.
While the generation site sits in the desert, Xlinks vows to bring an extensive social plan for the nearest communities.