Geophysical survey about to begin for ‘world’s longest HVDC subsea cable’

A geophysical survey is set to begin this month in the UK for an interconnector that will connect to Morocco, described as the world’s longest HVDC subsea cable.

The UK geophysical survey will follow the proposed cable corridor for the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project, routing along the North Cornwall coast to make landfall in North Devon.

Belgian GEOxyz is performing the survey using the vessel Geo Ocean VI.

The activities will consist of a multibeam and sub-bottom profiler and side scan sonar (SSS) with a piggybacked magnetometer.

The start of activities is anticipated on 14 July, with the end set for 14 September.

The Morocco-UK Power Project is a multi-technology renewable energy project with approximately 10.5 GW of generation capacity to be constructed in Morocco that would be exclusively supplied to Great Britain’s grid via HVDC subsea cables.

Located in Morocco’s renewable energy-rich region of Guelmim Oued Noun, the project will combine solar and wind generation assets coupled with energy storage, connected exclusively to the UK through dedicated 3,800-kilometer subsea cables with a combined capacity of 3.6 GW at the receiving end.

Scheduled to become operational by the end of the decade, the link is expected to supply clean power to the UK for an average of 20 hours a day, enough green energy to power over seven million British homes by 2030.

Earlier this year, Xlinks secured £30 million in funding for the development of the project.

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