A new step in the Xlinks submarine cable project linking Morocco to the United Kingdom. Britain’s XLCC has just obtained authorization for its submarine cable manufacturing operations.
This authorization paves the way for the start of construction work on the plant, the first order of which will be to deliver 4 cables of 3,800 km which will link Morocco to the United Kingdom. The development of the industrial site will create new industry in the UK to support its global decarbonisation goals. By 2025, the facility will create 900 jobs in the region, with thousands more in the supply chain. In Morocco, the project will create approximately 10,000 jobs during the construction phase.
In detail, the submarine cable manufacturer XLCC will supply four 3,800 km long submarine cables, the first phase of which, between 2025 and 2027, will connect wind and solar energy produced in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region. in Alverdiscott, North Devon, a non-metropolitan district in the county of Devon, England. Two of the four 1.8 GW high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine cables will be the longest in the world. They will require 90,000 tonnes of steel, and XLCC signed the British Steel Charter in Parliament in August 2022, in which it pledges to use British steel. This initiative will nearly double the current worldwide production of HVDC cables. The Guelmim-Devon cable will cover 8% of Britain’s electricity needs. It will connect Morocco and the United Kingdom via Portugal, Spain and France.
