A plan is in place to build the world's longest subsea power cable — which will stretch 2,361 miles — to supply clean energy from Morocco to the U.K.
According to reporting from Electrek, the Xlinks Morocco–U.K. Power Project was designated a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project by the U.K. government, which should allow it to bypass local planning requirements and gain approval more quickly.
The website for the project claims that, when complete, the cable will supply enough wind and solar energy generated in Morocco to power more than 7 million British homes by 2030, meeting 8% of the country's total energy needs.
"When domestic renewable energy generation in the United Kingdom drops due to low winds and short periods of sun, the project will harvest the benefits of long hours of sun in Morocco alongside the consistency of its convection Trade Winds, to provide a firm but flexible source of zero-carbon electricity," the site says.
The Xlinks Morocco–U.K. Power Project will follow a shallow water route around Spain, Portugal, and France, per Electrek.
As Electrek points out, the news of the cable comes as a somewhat encouraging sign amid news that the U.K. is pulling back from other clean energy commitments, including delaying a ban on the sale of gas-powered cars.
The current longest subsea power cable, also reported by Electrek, is another U.K.-backed project that connects the U.K. to Denmark at a much shorter distance of 475 miles.
There is also a Facebook-backed project called 2Africa that would be the world's longest subsea cable if completed, at just under 28,000 miles — though that cable will deliver internet, not energy.
Electrek's commenters were divided on the viability of the Xlinks Morocco–U.K. Power Project, but some took the news as positive.
"Good plan. Greatest energy production in Morocco will be when Great Britain needs it most," wrote one commenter.
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