Xlinks: TotalEnergies Invests £20 Mln in Morocco-UK Power Project

The Xlinks Morocco-UK power project is gaining momentum as French oil giant TotalEnergies has injected £20 million in the ambitious green project, joining fellow investors Octopus Energy and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA).

The French supermajor has decided to back the Morocco-UK project after withdrawing from Algeria due to endless hurdles to investors and corruption.

Xlinks plans to develop a giant renewable project in Morocco (combining solar and wind) to supply green electricity to the United Kingdom through the installation of high-voltage direct current (HDVC) subsea cables, coupled with a large battery energy storage.

Upon completion, the project is expected to deliver enough renewable, reliable and affordable electricity to power over 7 million British homes.

Simon Morrish, CEO of Xlinks, said: “We are excited to welcome Europe’s largest energy company to be a part of our ambitious vision to foster long distance power exchanges through this iconic partnership with the UK and Morocco”.

TotalEnergies’ investment “goes far beyond capital, providing a rare combination of expertise in areas that meet the unique challenges we face. This marks a highly successful end to 2023 and will give us an even greater impetus to achieve our goals as we enter 2024”, he added.

For his part, Vincent Stoquart, SVP Renewables at TotalEnergies, said: “We are delighted to join the Xlinks project and its other investors to support the development of such a pioneering and ambitious endeavor. This innovative project will benefit from our track record in developing large and complex integrated energy projects.”