Morocco is moving forward on electricity interconnection projects with Spain, Portugal and France, while holding firm on terms in separate talks with Sila Atlantik which advocates a $30 billion subsea cable to export renewable energy to Germany.
The Sila Atlantik project, a proposed 4,800-kilometer subsea cable that would carry up to 15 gigawatts of Moroccan solar and wind power to Germany, remains under negotiation.
Reuters reported this week that the $30 billion project has stalled over three unresolved issues. Morocco has required a formal intergovernmental agreement backed by the German government, not just commitments from the private German utilities behind the project.
Morocco also wants the cable to allow electricity to flow in both directions, rather than function solely as a one-way export line to Germany, Reuters reported citing unnamed sources.
The land promises made to a previous defunct project to export renewable energy to the UK have not been extended to Sila Atlantik, Reuters reported.
While the project with Germany is still in a negotiations stage, Morocco has moved its interconnection projects with Spain, Portugal and France into active planning and financing stages this month.
Morocco and Spain are working to add a third electricity interconnection line, with a capacity of 700 MW.
Morocco is currently the only African country directly connected to Europe’s power grid.
With Portugal, Morocco agreed to relaunch a Morocco-Portugal electricity interconnection that had been stalled since 2022. The project is undergoing feasibility study.
Both countries will jointly request that the European Commission classify the project as one of Common European Interest, which would make it eligible for EU financing under the Connecting Europe Facility. They will also seek private investors, according to media reports citing a visit by Moroccan energy minister to Lisbon where she met her Portuguese counterpart.
Morocco and France have launched plans for the “Pont de la Méditerranée,” a subsea high-voltage cable running from Nador to Marseille that would carry Moroccan renewable electricity directly to France without passing through Spain.
The project was announced during a recent visit to Rabat by French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who described it as one of the major energy connectivity projects between Europe and North Africa.
