2023-12-17 23:03:00
John Cortes, Minister of Education, Environment, Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Heritage, Technical Services, Transport and Relations with Morocco. Credit: DR
The idea of an underwater electrical connection with Morocco has resurfaced in the speeches of officials in the British enclave of Gibraltar. On the sidelines of COP 28 held in Dubai, John Cortes, Minister of Education, Environment, Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Heritage, Technical Services, Transport and Relations with the Morocco raised the subject once again during an interview with local media.
The Gibraltar authorities consider Morocco, which has already been exporting electricity to the Iberian Peninsula for several years, as a reliable energy supplier with a clean energy plan aimed at guaranteeing 52% of its electricity needs. from renewable sources by 2030. Cortes declared that an electrical connection with the kingdom “could be an option to consider, Morocco having a surplus of carbon-free, solar and wind energy, the additional cost of which would be offset by local taxes”.
The idea is not new for the authorities of the British Overseas Territory who are actively seeking to reduce its consumption of fossil energy and reduce its dependence on Spain.
Morocco has been exporting electricity to Spain since 2018, with the two countries agreeing to strengthen the interconnection with a third link. The third interconnection would have a technical capacity of 700 to 800 MW and should be commissioned by 2026.
Morocco’s electricity exports have seen consecutive levels of increase in recent years, as Madrid adopted an energy transition plan aimed at moving away from coal. A number of thermal power plants had been closed before the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Furthermore, Morocco and Portugal agreed in 2015 on plans for a 1,000 megawatt (MW) link. The feasibility studies launched in 2016 have still not resulted in the realization of this project.
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