The project to supply 8 million British households with Moroccan photovoltaic and wind energy is reaching a new level. The British Octopus Energy Group has just entered into a financial and strategic partnership with its counterpart Xlinks, the company behind the project (www.lematin.ma). The announcement marks the start of the partnership between the two companies, with further investments being discussed. “The partners are also exploring potential offtake rights for Octopus and an agreement that would see Octopus’ technology platform KrakenFlex used to deliver added value for consumers and the ability to power millions of heat pumps year-round. with cheap green electricity,” says Octopus Energy.
Route that will be followed by the submarine cables envisaged by Xlinks and Octopus Energy.
Announced in September 2021, the Xlinks project involves choosing a solar plus wind site in the Moroccan desert to supply 3.6GW of clean energy to the UK for an average of 20 hours a day. This will be made possible thanks to four 3,800 km long submarine cables. The project will have a total capacity of 10.5 GW and a 5 GW/20 GWh battery installation to help create a near-constant source of flexible and predictable renewable energy. The project is expected to be operational in 2027. Once in service, Xlinks is expected to supply electricity at £48/MWh.
