Technical due diligence wraps up for what will be world’s longest HVDC subsea cable

Energy and marine consultancy ABL has completed technical due diligence for what is expected to become the world’s longest HVDC subsea cable once it connects the UK and Morocco.

The Xlinks Morocco-UK power plant includes the development of a commercial-scale renewable energy project in Morocco, harnessing solar PV and wind power resources to supply green electricity to the UK through HDVC subsea cables between the two countries. The project will also consist of industrial-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).

ABL’s scope of work covered the review of feasibility studies, market and supply chain studies, cost engineering, environmental and social impact assessments, specialized design studies related to project critical infrastructure, route and site selection studies, and energy resource and yield assessments.

Renewable energy consultancy OWC, ABL’s sister company which specializes in the development and delivery of grid-scale technologies in wind power, solar PV, BESS and hydrogen, supported the scope.

“This is a ground-breaking project, on which we are really pleased to have supported Africa Finance Corporation in their planning. With multi-disciplinary expertise, dedicated in-house consultancy for grid-scale renewable energy development, local market knowledge and established presence in African energy, ABL was the logical partner to support this project,” said Sergion Leone, ABL’s Business Development Lead for Europe and Africa.

The Morocco-UK power project will have 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 connect 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.