Octopus Energy joins Morocco-UK renewable power transmission project

UK’s Octopus Energy Group on Thursday unveiled a financial and strategic partnership with Xlinks, the UK firm proposing the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project.

The project would connect an enormous 10-GW solar and wind energy complex in the Moroccan desert with Devon in South West England via the world’s largest subsea power cable. It is expected to deliver 3.6 GW of clean power to the UK for an average of 20 hours a day. Octopus said this is enough to power about 7 million heat pumps all year round.

The project is currently under development, with economic, environmental and archaeological impact assessments underway. It is seen to go online in 2027 and to provide power at GBP 48 (USD 59/EUR 56) per MWh.

Details of the partnership’s scope were not provided. Octopus said that further investments are under discussion and offtaking rights for Octopus are being considered. The companies are further studying an agreement for using Octopus’s tech platform KrakenFlex to increase value to consumers, and the potential to power millions of heat pumps with cheap green electricity.

“Going green will cut energy costs for Britain. Freeing ourselves from volatile fossil fuels was already important to help combat climate change, but it’s now clear we need to do this for affordability and security,” commented Octopus Energy Group founder Greg Jackson, who also personally invested in the project years ago.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.236/EUR 1.171)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!