Home » £16bn proposal for UK to draw renewable energy from Sahara Desert

£16bn proposal for UK to draw renewable energy from Sahara Desert

by Samiyah Mokaddus
turbines in the sahara

Plans are being laid to supply energy to the UK from renewable energy sources in Morocco.

The £16bn project would see up to four 3,800km power cables laid to supply up to 3.6GW of renewable energy from Morocco to the UK.

The power would be generated by a 1,500 sq/km wind and solar farm in size in Morocco’s Guelmim Oued Noun region.

The high voltage direct cables, the world’s longest, would come with a 20GWh battery in order to smooth out dips in the generation of wind and solar power.

The project has been proposed by UK-based renewable energy company Xlinks.

Founder Simon Morrish said: “The project will harness extremely reliable solar and wind power in Morocco to deliver vital baseload power balancing and enabling our own offshore wind ambitions while reinforcing Morocco’s renewable energy industry.

“Working in tandem with domestic renewables, it makes a reliable, net-zero electricity system by 2035 much more possible in Britain.”

Xlinks hopes to begin construction of the cable in UK factories in 2025, with completion of the project set for 2029.

Image: muratart/Shutterstock


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