Morocco and Spain are preparing to inspect the undersea power cables that helped keep electricity flowing between them during the April 2025 blackout, 7news Morocco reports. Spanish marine services company Advanced Cargo Services & Marina (ACSM) has won the inspection contract. The work will be funded equally by Morocco’s ONEE and Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica de España, and will assess the cables’ condition and identify any maintenance needed.
The 30km link crosses the Strait of Gibraltar, connecting the Fardioua station in Morocco with the Tarifa substation in Spain, at depths of up to 640 meters. It has two 400kV circuits and seven cables in total: three per circuit and a seventh kept as a shared reserve. The first circuit began operating in 1997 and the second in 2006.
Maximum combined capacity is 1,400MW. Under standard commercial arrangements, up to 900MW can flow from Spain to Morocco and 600MW in the opposite direction.
The blackout of 28 April 2025 hit mainland Spain, mainland Portugal and Andorra, leaving more than 50 million people without power for about 10 hours. Spain’s generation fell from about 25GW to roughly 10GW within minutes, according to Red Eléctrica, and restoration began that afternoon. Morocco and France helped by sending power across their interconnections. Morocco redirected part of its generation, with some reports putting the transfer at up to 900MW.
The emergency highlighted the importance of cross-border links, which allow electricity to flow in either direction and offer an additional route for trade between Europe and Africa as both countries expand renewables. The two countries are also planning a third undersea connection at 400kV, adding 700MW of capacity at an estimated cost of about $169m, shared equally.
