At first glance, the rural area of Northern Devon in England with its hills and coastal cliffs seems unlikely for the implementation of advanced projects. However, the company Xlinks plans to turn it into a key point of one of the most ambitious projects in the field of renewable energy. By 2029, a center may appear here for two electric cables that provide up to 8% of the UK needs in electricity. At the other end of the cables will be a huge complex of solar panels and wind turbines in the Morocco desert.
The XLINKS project, called Morocco-Greatbrinty, is a model for a new global network, in which long cables transmit pure electricity between continents. However, before the project can inspire other similar undertakings, Xlinks will have to overcome political, logistics, and financial obstacles.
Will Todman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington noted that the level of seriousness of such projects is increasing, but they have not yet proved their vitality.
Xlinks plans include the installation of 11.5 gigavatts of solar panels and wind turbines in the Guelmim-Nun region in Morocco. It is important to note that the region is on the border with occupied Western Sahara, although Xlinks said they would not be built on the “disputed territory”.
The Moroccan network will not receive this electricity. Instead, a pair of high-voltage cables will direct electricity to Britain. Cables with a length of 3,800 km will pass along the coast of Portugal, Northern Spain, and Southwest France, bypass Brittany and Cornwall and reach Northern Devon. They will provide the British network on average 3.6 GW of power.